launched the new packet with its instructions for the staff and a
special note to her son Raynar.
Then Aryn scanned the hyperwave frequency bands in hopes of finding one
of the message bursts sent from Coruscant. A minute later, her efforts
were rewarded when she located a transmission packet carrying a Thul
family identifier. Grateful to finally have some news from
headquarters, Aryn
quickly retrieved and decoded the message while her navigators and
helmsmen calculated a new jump through hyperspace.
Staring off through the viewports while she waited for the usual audio
message to begin, Aryn Dro Thul was astonished to see a tiny hologram
appear in the air above the comm console.
Bornan Thul, himself.
It was her husband, alive and well! The image of his face seemed
thinner, and he wore the rough-woven garb of a Random trader, but he
seemed healthy.
The figure seemed to stare directly at her as it spoke. "My dear wife
and son, I've been hiding for so long now that you may have feared me
dead. But I am very much alive--for the moment at least. In my
tradings I learned of a conspiracy so powerful, so . . . evil, that
the fate of all humanity may depend on its prevention. I can tell you
no more without placing your lives in great danger. I will not contact
you again until I'm certain this threat is no longer to be feared. I
hope I can survive long enough to do it. My thoughts are, as always,
only with you."
The tiny figure raised its hand as if to turn off a recording device,
then seemed to think better of it.
In a low voice, Bornan Thul added, "Perhaps I have too rarely told you
in the past, but I love you both."
The image dissolved into static.
70 Silent tears of relief, joy, and loneliness ran in rivulets
down Aryn Dro Thul's face. She reset the holomessage and played it
again from the beginning.
Lifting a finger to touch the tiny image in front of her, she listened.
Again. And again.
FOR THE TENTH time Lowie adjusted his crash webbing and rearranged his
limbs in the Rising Star's cramped copilot area--but his fidgeting was
due more to nervousness than discomfort. In contrast, Raaba's movements
were spare and confident, like a well-rehearsed dance." Her deft fingers
punched in coordinates and flicked switches, preparing for the skimmer's
jump to hyperspace.
Away from Yavin 4, away from his friends at the Jedi academy.
Lowie's fingers tapped restlessly against one hairy knee, until Raaba
told him to relax. He tried folding his hands and leaning back in the
seat, but that felt too stiff and awkward. He reached down to check Em
Teedee, only to remember that he had left the little droid behind with
Jaina on the jungle moon. The tension inside Lowie just had to get out.
He jiggled one leg but decided it might irritate
Raaba, and so he stopped. He settled for simply crossing his arms over
his chest.
It was ironic that Lowie should feel so self-conscious alone with Raaba.
She had been his sister Sirra's friend, but Raaba had always admired him
when they were growing up--had even attempted her rite of passage alone
because that was the way Lowie had done it.
But now ... the chocolate-furred 'Wookiee seemed different.
Poised, independent, self-assured.
He was not sure what to make of her anymore. Even the freshly washed
strip of red cloth she wore cinched above her ears as a headband made
him wonder how well he knew her--or had ever known her. She carried an
energy and a sense of direction that he couldn't help but admire. 'Lowie
supposed anyone would find those qualities attractive.
A tunnel lined with star streaks dilated in front of them as Raaba
launched the Rising Star into hyperspace.
Lowie shifted his weight and began to assess his agitation and
He had always been confident, too, priding himself on being a deep
thinker; he knew he could figure this out. Reason and logic came
naturally to him--and he had no rational cause to be nervous, just
because Raaba had changed.
In the past, however, deep thought and discussion had not really been
something that he and Raaba had shared. Lowie wondered if she had
changed in
that respect, too. Well, they were going to be in hyperspace for quite
a while, so there was no better time to find out. He started the
conversation by telling Raaba that it seemed she had done a lot of
growing up since they'd known each other on Kashyyyk.
The Wookiee woman found grim amusement in his observation and answered
with a bitter growl of laughter. It would have been hard not to grow up
after the atrocities she had heard of and witnessed firsthand. She and
Lowie had both led sheltered lives in their beautiful tree city on
Kashyyyk, she explained. Even the dangers of the lowest forest levels
were nothing compared to the barbarous cruelties the alien species of
the galaxy had suffered.
This was what the Diversity Alliance had taught her. And most of those
atrocities had been committed by humans.
That was why the Diversity Alliance was so important as a political
force for change, Raaba went on, the passion in her voice rising. The
Alliance accepted and championed the rights of all the species who had
suffered indignities at human hands. For example, the Empire had never
been punished for its enslavement of Wookiees. The Diversity Alliance
vowed never to allow such a thing to happen again.
All species had been affected by the human-loving Empire's repression
and prejudice, in fact.
Raaba spoke with fire in her voice. Her eyes flashed, and Lowie
couldn't help but realize how large and beautiful those eyes were--or
how the shaved patches at her wrists, elbows, and neck contrasted with
her luxurious dark fur.
Clearly, Raaba had given some thought to the Diversity Alliance and what
it stood for. Lowie was impressed by her spirit and enthusiasm . . .
but also disturbed by the conclusions she drew.
Humans were not the only species that had ever mistreated another, he
pointed out. Surely she couldn't believe that all of the ills of the
galaxy were the sole responsibility of human beings?
Raaba pondered for a moment. No, she admitted that other species had
also mistreated one another.
The Diversity Alliance abhorred any abuse of alien species--even by each
other.
Lowie rumbled thoughtfully, then asked if the Diversity Alliance also
abhorred the mistreatment of humans by other species.
Raaba looked uncomfortable at the turnabout.
Fr now, the Diversity Alliance did not have the resources to concern
itself. with the treatment humans received. The subject simply did not
come up. Raaba shrugged. Besides, such situations were anomalies, a
minor swing of the pendulum. It was the alien species who needed
protection from abuse; humans could take care of themselves.
With the Diversity Alliance, Nolaa Tarkona was searching for the answer
to all of their problems, and as soon as they found the long-awaited
solution, the galaxy would be free again.
In a consoling tone, Raaba asked Lowie not to make up his mind in
advance. She wanted him to meet her friends and listen to what they had
to say.
The Diversity Alliance was a place where she felt she belonged.
If Lowie kept an open mind, he might find that he belonged there, too.
It would be so nice to have him with her.
The Diversity Alliance could very much use the help of someone special
like a Force-talented Wook-lee.
Perhaps his sister Sirra would want to join, as well. Even if Sirra
wasn't interested, though, Raaba asked Lowie to think about how much
time the two of them could spend together if they were both part of the
Diversity Alliance ....
Lowie thought about it. A lot.
"YES, I DO have a plan," Nolaa Tarkona said.
"And I don't think the humans will enjoy it very much." When she smiled,
her sharply filed teeth glinted like daggers in the dim light.
"All the better then," remarked Adjutant Advisor Hovrak, a bristly faced
wolfman who growled under his breath. He used a long claw to pick
shreds of meat from along his gumline. A few fresh blood spatters on
his otherwise neat uniform indicated that Hovrak must have eaten
recently.
Nolaa glided past the long black table in her private chambers.
"Are the other representatives here in the caves? The three Diversity
Alliance soldiers who have recruited the greatest number of new
members?"
"Yes, they just arrived on Ryloth." The wolfman shuffled his feet,
uncertain. "I agree they deserve induction into our inner circle as a
reward for their
efforts. But are you sure that it's wise to use our last sample of the
plague for so small a demonstration?"
"It isn't a small demonstration, Adjutant Advisor," she said. Her
remaining head-tail twitched with agitation, making her tattoos ripple.
From the folds of her black robes she withdrew a vial that contained the
deadly solution. "This spark will ignite the fire of utter loyalty we
require."
Two decades earlier a rebellious nonhuman group, the Alien Combine, had
attempted to accomplish goals similar to Nolaa Tarkona's.
But the Alien Combine had been unwilling to take sufficiently extreme
actions. Nolaa knew how to learn from mistakes, though, and she vowed
that her Diversity Alliance would succeed... no matter what it took.
With the wolfman beside her, she walked into the echoing main grotto to
receive her newly promoted followers. The chamber was cool and dim,
just the way she liked it. The light was a deep red, as if filtered
through panes of bloodstained glass.
Three important Diversity Alliance soldiers stood waiting for her,
puffed with pride. Out of all the thousands of members in her political
movement, Nolaa had chosen them for this private meeting.
She studied Rullak first, a tentacle-faced Quarren from the ocean world
of Calamari. Decades ago, the amphibious Quarren species had
collaborated with the Empire to protect their underwater cities, while
the more peaceful Mon Calamari were enslaved, their floating cities
blasted to rains. Now, Rullak stood basking in the shadows, robbing his
clammy hands together to distribute the bodily excretions that prevented
his skin from drying out.
In the middle, a reptilian Trandoshan named Corrsk loomed silent and
ominous, sluggish but powerful. His breath came out in a rasping
gargle.
The Trandoshans had a long-standing blood feud against Wookiees, and
their bounty hunters made a habit of collecting Wookiee pelts. But in
uniting alien species to fight the common enemy--humans--Nolaa had
managed to secure concessions even from the vicious reptiles. Corrsk
had sworn to ignore his natural bloodlust for any Wook-lee who adopted
the cause of the Diversity Alliance.
All others were, of course, fair game.
Finally, on the right stood a wily Devaronian female, Kambrea, whose
curving horns, hooded eyes, and pointed fangs gave her narrow face the
appearance of a she-devil.
"You three have heard me speak before great crowds, but this
demonstration is for your eyes alone," Nolaa said, and sat down easily
in the massive stone chair. On a low pedestal at her left she kept a
rough file for sharpening her teeth during idle moments. She toyed with
the tool now, running its pointed end under her tingemails.
"This is a private ceremony--a reward for your
80 unwavering service." Her breath came out in a hiss of
anticipation. "What I am about to show you will convince you more than
any words I can say."
"You don't need to convince us, Esteemed Tarkona," said Kambrea.
The Devaronian female's bright eyes darted from side to side, as if
probing for assassins in the shadows. "We know our cause is just. The
weight of human domination has crushed the galaxy for too long. We will
follow you wherever the fight may take us."
"Kill humans!" said Corrsk in a rough voice.
Even with this brief statement, the towering reptilian seemed to feel he
had said too much.
"/wish to see this demonstration," the Quarren countered, the tentacles
around his mouth quivering.
Rullak's voice bubbled up like words spoken through a drinking tube into
polluted water. "I harbor no doubts, Honored Tarkona . . .
but I am certain it will be entertaining."
Nolaa laughed. "Yes, it will be very entertaining."
She held up the glimmering vial so that reddish light twinkled from its
crystal sides. "This vial contains more destructive power than the
Death Starmthan even the Sun Crusher. Selective destruction."
The Quarren and the Devaronian sat in anticipation.
Nolaa did not know how to interpret Corrsk's breathy snort.
"You see, the Emperor did more than just create
weapons of mass destruction. He had an entire cadre of his finest
scientists--humans, but talented nonetheless--working on more insidious
schemes.
The great biological engineer Evir Derricote created numerous diseases
that spread like wildfire through some species, particular species.
Recall how non-human peoples suffered during the unleashing of the
Krytos plague on Coruscant during the Rebel takeover."
The three representatives all nodded gravely, remembering the death and
terror shortly after the fall of the Emperor.
"I have learned that Derricote also developed an organism more deadly
than Krytos, perhaps even as bad as the Death Seed plague. A virus so
horrible that Emperor Palpatine himself feared to use it."
She held the vial out toward them. "This contains a sample of that
plague."
The three Diversity Alliance soldiers shifted uneasily and took an
instinctive step backward.
Nolaa restrained her smile of self-satisfaction.
Good, she had impressed them--but not nearly enough. Her slick robes
draped themselves regally around her as she stood, then she took two
steps down to the fl
oor of the grotto. The three representatives
flicked nervous glances at each other.
Clutching the vial, Nolaa snapped at her Adjutant Advisor.
"Hovrak, bring out the prisoner." Her tattooed head-tail thrashed in
anticipation, while the
optical sensor implanted in her other tentacle stump gleamed, recording
all the details around her.
The wolfman barked a command, and two lumbering Gamorrean guards strode
in from a side tunnel, bearing between them the cloaked form of an
Imperial guard. Limp scarlet robes hung around him. His bullet-shaped
helmet was an impenetrable red mask with only a black vee-slit over his
eyes.
"An Imperial guard!" Rullak said, raising his moist hands. "I thought
they had all been destroyed."
"This one had schemes of his own," Nolaa said.
"He and several partners concocted a fake Emperor in hopes that they
could rule a Second Imperium in his name, like a gang of thugs--but
their plans fell apart when the new Jedi Knight defeated the Shadow
Academy. He was the only one to escape."
The captive struggled, but the piglike Gamorrean security escorts held