Darkest Knight

by Kevin J. Anderson

  recapture lost glory, to reclaim stolen territory, would require every

  set of capable hands for the Second Imperium. But even if Qorl did

  manage to turn the rest of the Lost Ones gang into serviceable troopers

  and pilots, this one was trouble.

  At the control pad of the simulation chamber, Qorl programmed in a new

  set of targets while Norys recharged his blaster rifle. He vowed to

  train this one, and keep training him, until he saw some genuine

  progress in the ambitious fighter.

  "I still say I should have been sent on the raid with Tamith Kai," Norys

  grumbled, wing his weapon as if it made him feel more secure. "I could

  have taken out a few enemies, evened the score a little bit for our

  side. Set a few of those big Wookiee trees on fire."

  Qorl set the simulated targets in rapid motion: black, orange, and blue

  for Rebels, and white for stormtroopers. "It's a small raid," Qorl said.

  "Zekk is directing the troops.

  There was no need for a second leader."

  Norys took aim at a blue target and missed.

  He liked target practice better when the targets were slow simulations

  like mynocks. It was from to kill them. "Then they should have sent me

  alone, old man. I'm a better leader now than that trash collector will

  ever be."

  Rouble, Qorl thought, definitely trouble.

  "Why do you say that?"

  "Because," Norys said, taking aim at an orange target, but only nicking

  the edge of it, "my followers are so afraid of me they'd never dare

  disobey my orders." He missed once more. "Is the aim-point on this

  blaster offset again?"

  "You aren't concentrating on your target," Qorl said, then addressed the

  candidate's comment in a neutral tone. "Your example is indeed one

  method of leadership. But you have much to learn."

  Norys bristled and missed another shot.

  He rounded on the former TIE pilot with a menacing growl. 'Like what,

  old man?"

  Qorl didn't flinch or back down. He had faced tougher adversaries than

  this young bully-though perhaps none with such pure mean-spiritedness.

  "You could learn to concentrate on your weapon and shut out

  distractions. You could also learn how to aim and hit your intended

  target each time, rather than just talking about it," Qorl pointed out.

  "The way you are shooting today, you would have become a casualty in

  only a few seconds in a real firefight."

  "Really, old man?" Norys's lips pulled back in something between a snarl

  and a grin. He turned back toward the targets and, moving his blaster

  rifle in a slow semicircle, flooded the area with blaster bolts, never

  removing his finger from the firing stud. When he was finished, every

  target had registered a hit. A

  complete slaughter. Norys turned back toward Qorl with a satisfied

  smirk. "How much more target practice do I need, old man?"

  "Enough practice so you don't destroy our own troops during a raid,"

  Qorl replied.

  Norys shrugged. "We all make a few sacrifices to meet our goals." He

  glanced back at the targets. "Seems like a fair trade-off to me." He

  tossed the spent blaster rifle at Qorl, who caught it with his good arm.

  Rouble, Qorl thought, definitely trouble.

  I 0 ------------------i STARS BURNED IN the midnight sky like a billion

  white-hot embers on a slab of black marble. Jacen, Jaina, and Tenel Ka

  had long since retired to their beds-but Lowie could@t sleep. Perched

  comfortably on the wide railing of the upper verandah, with the

  simmering night sounds of the forest all around him, he kept a watchful

  eye on his sister's window.

  Sirra still insisted she wanted to imitate Lowie's feat with the syren

  plant, and he could not talk her out of it. Now he feared she would

  leave him behind at the last moment, go alone on her dangerous quest-as

  Raaba had done. So far, though, he had seen no sign that his sister was

  planning anything so foolish.

  Because of increased production quotas for the New Republic's military

  requirements, their parents had both volunteered to work the night shift

  at the computer fabrication facility. Kallabow and Mahraccor had spent

  their lives at their jobs, contented if somewhat unchallenged, and

  seemed baffled that neither of their children wanted to follow in their

  footsteps.

  But Sirra demanded constant challenges, and went out of her way to

  create some when life didn't provide her with enough of them.

  The light in Sirra's room shimmered like a warm fire behind the window's

  leafy shade.

  Small glowing mesh cages rested outside her window and on various

  platforms throughout the Wookiee residential district-containers filled

  with a sweet-smelling substance that proved an irresistible attractant

  to a species of tiny glowing gnats called phosfleas. When the cages were

  placed outside, clusters of the harmless phosphorescent insects swarmed

  around them to provide a natural, pollutionfree light source.

  Sitting alone outside under the starlight, Lowie had watched Sirra's

  shadowy figure moving about in her room, pacing as if agitated, but he

  had seen no sign of her for some time now. Perhaps his sister was trying

  to sleep, he thought.

  But though vague foreboding crackled like static through his mind, he

  liked being alone in the restful darkness, high above the ground, where

  he could think. It felt good to be home on Kashyyyk. He drew in a

  lungful of the woodscented air and practiced a Jedi relaxation

  technique, slowly willing his tense muscles to unknot-only to jump a

  meter into the air as a set of cold claws pricked his back. Lowie

  stumbled to his feet and spun toward the railing, his defensive Wookiee

  instincts coming into play.

  Sirra, shaking with silent laughter, hauled herself up over the railing

  onto the verandah and resheathed her claws, complimenting him on his

  reflexes. At least, she said, he had convinced her that he might be of

  some help during her quest. Lowie groaned, trying to quell the surge of

  adrenaline. He asked her if the surprise had been designed strictly to

  test him.

  Sirra's voice grew more serious, and she lowered her head. She had

  wanted to demonstrate that she could slip off alone, if she wanted, and

  Lowie wouldn't have been able to stop her. Sirra turned her head up so

  that the starlight gleamed on the pattern-shaved tufts of her fur. Then

  she looked at her brother and promised that she wouldn't go without him.

  Lowie reseated himself on the railing and gazed up at the stars. He

  grumbled about the unexpected ways she made her points.

  Sirra purred, thanking him for the odd compliment, making herself

  comfortable beside him.

  Lowie grunted, not sure he had intended his remark as praise, but the

  fact that Sirra was pleased by the comment spoke volumes.

  She enjoyed being different, just as her friend Raaba had. . . .

  As if sensing the direction of his thoughts, Sirra began talking about

  Raaba, how the sleek, dark Wookiee had loved the stars.

  Even when they were small, the two young females used to sneak out at

  night and watch
the skies for hours.

  Lowie's shoulders slumped. Raaba should not have died. She had taken a

  foolish risk, going alone.

  Sirra growled, pointing out that Lowie had taken exactly the same risk.

  Lowie barked in agreement-yes indeed, he had been a fool.

  His sister's voice was harsh. If he had it to do again, would he do

  anything different?

  Would he take a friend?

  Lowie nodded a quick affirmative. Sirra said nothing, but even in the

  darkness Lowie could see her fur bristling in disbelief. After a DARKEST

  long silence he finally sighed, then shook his head.

  After another long pause Sirra told her brother how much Raaba admired

  him, how much she had wanted to be like Lowie.

  Lowie looked up at the sky again, at the stars that Raaba had loved. He

  gave a questionin growl. When he had left for the Jedi academy, Lowie

  and Raaba had been too young to speak of making a life-bond. He still

  had his Jedi training ahead of him . . . and Raaba had plans too. With

  Sirra.

  Here Sirra's voice broke. She crooned a low mournful note and then

  another. After a time, Lowie added his voice to hers, and together

  beneath the stars, they poured out their grief for a lost friend.

  Hours later, Lowie felt more refreshed than he would have thought

  possible, even had he slept the entire night. It had been better to

  spend the time growing closer to his sister.

  Sirra's husky voice broke into his thoughts, asking about his Jedi

  friends. Would they grieve for him, if he were gone? Like she and Lowie

  had done for Raaba?

  He nodded emphatically, and she told him he was fortunate to have found

  them.

  Encouraged, he asked her more about the plans she and Raaba had made.

  Sirra did not speak for so long he was afraid he had offended her or

  reopened an old wound. Finally she described how they were going to be

  pilots, galactic adventurer S. They had planned to work on freighters

  until they earned enough credits to buy their own ship and explore the

  stars. They could have been rich traders. She chuffed with bitter

  laughter. Raaba even had some fur-brained notion that they could make

  their names by charting out new hyperspace routes.

  Lowie's fur bristled, and he commented that such a career was a

  dangerous business.

  Sirra's tone was wry, pointing out that danger had never deterred their

  friend Raaba.

  Sirra spread her hands, confessing that she didn't want to do that

  anymore. Not without Raaba. She didn't know what she wanted to do

  now-but she definitely didn't want to stay on Kashyyyk.

  Sirra paused again and stared upward.

  Lowie followed his sister's gaze, wonderi... .she imagined Raaba out

  there among the stars, exploring and having the adventures the two of

  them had always dreamed of.

  Sirra sighed. It was difficult to lose a friend, she said.

  Lowie realized how easy it was to take friends-and family-for granted.

  He found it hard to imagine how lonely his sister must be.

  Sirra hesitantly asked him if he would spend the day with her while

  Chewbacca and Jaina continued to tinker with the Shadow Chaser.

  Remembering his earlier feeling of foreboding, Lowie gladly agreed.

  ----------------AS MIDMORNING SUNSHINE drove off the last shreds of mist

  that clung to the wroshyr treetops, four muscular Wookiees marched to

  the transportation control tower of the computer fabrication complex.

  The four looked just like any other Wookiees dressed appropriately for

  work in the high-tech factory. They were tall and powerful and carried

  no visible weapons. The newcomers punched in the correct access codes

  and passed into the high-security tower that rose high above the other

  tree platforms.

  Their timing was perfect for the morning shift change.

  When they crossed the checkpoint station into the control tower, the

  four passed an electrostatic air-filtration grid. The images of the four

  Wookiees flickered in the unseen discharge, just for an instant, before

  their appearance restored itself.

  No one noticed.

  ill The real Wookiees who had been assigned to the next shift lay

  stunned inside a small supply chamber in an outer storage platform.

  The Wookiees on duty, weary from hours of monitoring the ships that came

  and went from the computer facility, were happy to finish their shift

  and return home. They signed off their stations and handed over the

  equipment to the new crew, who gruffly acknowledged them in synthesized

  Wookiee grunts and growls.

  The earlier crew departed, leaving the facihty's control points, the

  lockout systems, and KashyyyWs satellite defense functions in the hands

  of the newcomers.

  One of the new Wookiees sealed the control tower door, pulled out a

  concealed blaster, then melted the alarm systems and intruder detection

  devices. Sparks flew. Metal and plasteel dripped, smoldering black. All

  four Wookiees then touched their waists, switching off the hidden

  holographic generators belted there. Their images shimmered, dissolving

  away, to reveal a commando team from the Shadow Academy.

  "Me holo-disguises worked perfectly," Zekk said, brushing at his leather

  armor and straightening his crimson-hned cape, happy to be himself

  again.

  The stormtrooper stationed at the door said, "Alarm systems disengaged.

  No problems here."

  The other two infiltrators, the Nightsisters Tamith Kai and Vonnda Ra,

  stood before the complex computer systems. The Wookieelevel panels

  forced them to reach up to use the controls. Vonnda Ra craned her neck

  to examine the readouts and identify systems.

  Tamith Kai brooded, m@g over various details. She clasped her

  long-nailed hands together. "This plan must proceed according to

  schedule," she said. "If it does, it looks as if success will be ours."

  "We'll succeed," Zekk said confidently. "I won't disappoint Master

  Brakiss."

  Vonnda Ra worked at two of the control panels, studying keyboards and

  diagnostics.

  Satisfied, the Nightsister slipped an insulated vibroblade from her belt

  sheath and flicked on the humming knife. She bent down under the panels

  and slashed sideways to sever the power cords. Bright sparks spat out,

  followed by curling white electrical smoke.

  She backed away, covering her nose against the acrid smell, then stood

  up straight again, looking satisfied. "Kashyyyles orbital defense

  systems have been permanently disabled."

  Zekk nodded at the destroyed control panel, his green eyes flashing.

  "Sure looks permanent to me."

  "You're in command of this mission, Zekk," Tamith Kai said, plugging a

  hand-held translator into the communications console. "Don't you think

  it's time you transmitted your signal to lure those Jedi brats here,

  where we can take care of them?" The Nightsister looked insufferably

  pleased with herself.

  Zekk swallowed, his mind whirling. He had known this moment would come,

  and he had to face it.

  "Do I sense hesitation?" Tamith Kai snapped.

  "No,- he answered, "just working
out the proper wording for the message.

  They must be intrigued and concerned . . . and convinced." Zekk hovered

  over the communications console, pondering his words, then punched them

  into the translator that would convert them to the appropriate Wookiee

  dialect and send a text message with the highest priority to where Jacen

  and Jaina were staying with their friends.

  If he worded it correctly, he knew the twins would come.

  Back in the Wookiee home high in the trees, Jacen did his best to keep

  up with his friends in the fast-paced computer skill game. But the other

  players-Lowie, Sirra, and Tenel Ka-far outmatched his reflexes.

  Jaina, meanwhile, had gone with Chewbacca to work on their damaged ship.

  The friends sat at the four sides of a rectangular control grid, each

  with one hand on the small, flexible motion sensors that guided tiny

  laserprojected simulations of space fighters. They fought a miniature

  reenactment of the original Death Star battle.

  @wie and Sirra flew fast X-wing fighters, while Jacen and Tenel Ka were

  stuck with flanking defensive ships, sluggish old Y-wings.

  The computer did its best to pursue them all, its simulated TIE fighters

  firing repeatedly, while enormous turbolaser cannons emplaced in the