Shards of Alderaan

by Kevin J. Anderson

  "Ruins, perhaps?" Tenel Ka suggested.

  "Quite probably," Em Teedee agreed.

  "Why don't we just get closer and see?"

  Jacen asked impatiently.

  Jaina sighed. "I was purposely staying high, hoping we'd spot a city or

  pick up a beacon of some sort to show us where the inhabited areas are.

  That's my guess for where Bornan Thul would have gone. I suppose you're

  right, though; we'll have to go down."

  She took the Rock Dragon lower until they skimmed just two hundred

  meters above the surface. In most areas, the vegetation was fairly

  sparse. Rocky spikes and pillars and mounds jutted up from the

  landscape. Occasionally, Jacen saw what looked like a nest of some sort

  on one of the outcroppings. The color of the dirt, sand, and rock

  varied from cream, to gray, to pale blue with purplish striations, to

  bright ocher, to stark obsidian.

  Lowie woofed and tapped the control panel in front of him.

  "Yep, I see it," Jaina said.

  "What kind of structures?" Jacen asked.

  'I'm afraid I can't say," Em Teedee replied. "They are approximately

  three kilometers ahead of us."

  "There," Jaina said as she slowed the Rock Dragon and dropped even lower

  to get a good look. The thick wall that surrounded the small city atop

  a high, strategic hill was broken in several places. Some of the

  buildings seemed in good repair, though others were cracked and

  crumbling.

  A variety of furred and feathered creatures bounded, scurried, or

  swooped from building to building. Hundreds of yellow, six-legged

  reptiles with curly tails clung to the sunny side of every wall or

  turret.

  "No people," Tenel Ka observed.

  "Maybe they just abandoned this city for some reason," Jacen said. He

  wished they could stop to explore, so he could study some of the strange

  creatures he had just seen, but Jaina had already pulled the Rock Dragon

  up and was looking for the next city. They flew for hours across the

  surface of the planet, zigzagging back and forth to cover more ground.

  They came upon a score of other ghost towns, fortresses, and villages in

  varying states of disrepair. None was inhabited; none had been

  disturbed in centuries.

  And they found no clues to Bornan Thul's whereabouts, no evidence to

  show he, or anyone else, had been there.

  Jacen was beginning to get nervous.

  He could see Jaina biting her lower lip.

  "Where are people when you need them?"

  he heard her mutter.

  "You, um . . . you don't suppose,' Jacen began, "that some war or

  virus or something could have killed everybody on Kuar, do you?"

  Jaina darted him a startled look, as if she had not thought of this.

  "No," Tenel Ka said simply.

  "Rest assured, Master Jacen," Em Teedee chimed in, "all of the evidence

  indicates that the settlements we're seeing have been abandoned for

  hundreds-if not thousands-of years."

  Jacen relaxed slightly. "What exactly are we looking for, anywa3r?"

  "A landmark maybe?" Jaina said.

  "An obvious meeting place," Tenel Ka suggested.

  "Something that's easy to spot,' Jaina said, "on an entire planet."

  Lowie rumbled something about hangar bays.

  'Or a good landing area," Jaina added.

  "Trust me, I'll know it when I see it."

  Jacen, Lowie, and Tenel Ka exchanged amused glances.

  As it turned out, Jaina was right. It was nearly dawn before she saw a

  broad-based mesa that rose a kilometer above the cracked and dusty

  plain. As they drew closer, it became clear that the mesa, which was

  close to three kilometers wide, was not really a mesa. The majority of

  the mountain's flat top had collapsed into a deep crater, surrounded by

  an artificially broad, level rim, forming a gigantic natural arena.

  Houses and tunnels and walkways and stairs had long ago been built into

  the sides of the crater. From the floor of the crater rose the ruins of

  a vast array of tall-or formerly tall-buildings. A webwork of rusty

  clfains connected the tops of these buildings, like the design of some

  deranged insect. Jaina brought the Rock Dragonin for a smooth landing

  on the spaciousrim.

  Here we are," she said smugly. 'Landmark. Easy to spot. Excellent

  landing area.

  This would be my guess." Lowie agreed enthusiastically"I'm showing no

  signs of airborne contaminants that would endanger the lives of humans

  or Wookiees," Em Teedee assured them. "The atmosphere is perfectly

  breathable."

  "Everybody out, then," Jaina said. "Time to stretch our legs."

  "Great," Jacen sighed, unbuckling his crash webbing. He was already

  thinking about what kinds of interesting creatures they might encounter.

  "Now we begin the next stage of our search," Tenel Ka said. She

  followed Jacen down the shuttle's exit ramp. Jaina and Lowie tumbled

  after them, eager to move about after their long search.

  Jacen ran to the edge of the crater and looked down at the patchwork of

  ancient buildings, chains, and walls dappled by shadows. "Could take a

  long time to look through all that," he said.

  Lowie gave a negative growl. "Lowie's right. I think it would be more

  logical to start up here," Jaina said. "The best place to set down a

  ship would be somewhere along this rim." She made a sweeping gesture

  with one arm to indicate the wide ledge that encircled the crater.

  After a brief consultation, the young Jedi Knights spread out from the

  rocky edge of the crater, spacing themselves to cover the most distance.

  They walked slowly around the rim, scanning the ground ahead and to each

  side for any sign of a recent disturbance in the ancient settled dust.

  After several false alarms-which turned out to be nothing more than a

  gouge out of the rock, a shiny feather, or some animal droppings-Jacen,

  who was closest to the outer edge of the rim, saw something fluttering

  up ahead. Shading his eyes with one hand against the direct glare of

  the early morning sun, he ran forward. 'Ib his great disappointment, he

  found nothing more than a flat gray slab of rock, as large as one of the

  serving trays back at the Jedi academy. His sister, Lowie, and Tenel Ka

  dashed up beside him.

  "What is it?" Jaina asked.

  "Nothing, I guess," Jacen said. "I thought I saw something moving over

  here, fluttering. Maybe it was just a bird or a plume of dust, I don't

  know."

  Tenel Ka bent low and circled the rock.

  "Ah. Aha," she said. She reached her hand beneath the edge and pulled.

  "Lowbacca, my friend?" she began, but before she could finish her

  request, Lowie had already lifted the slab of rock high overhead and

  then tossed it aside. Tenel Ka straightened. In her hand she held a

  long piece of cloth, a sash, sewn from alternating strips of yellow,

  purple, and orange fabric. "The colors of the House of Thul," she said

  matter-of-factly.

  "Why, bless me," Em Teedee exclaimed.

  He was viewing the scene from a perspective that none of the others had.

  'Does the House of Thul also place inscriptions on its clothing?"

  'Not. that I've ever noticed,"
Jacen said, wondering what the little

  droid was getting at.

  'May I see that?" Jaina asked. Tenel Ka handed her the sash. Jaina

  grasped the material with one hand near each end and stretched it out

  straight. She scanned the sash then flipped it over. 'Look!"

  Jacen moved closer. Sure enough, there on the yellow band of material

  scratched in faint gray letters was a message.

  'Danger," it said. "If I am caught, all humans in danger Thul."

  'Gracious me!" Em Teedee exclaimed. "I do hope Master Thul is safe."