The Lost Ones

by Kevin J. Anderson

  * *

  * * * *

  * THE RISE OF THE *

  * SHADOW ACADEMY 3 *

  * THE LOST ONES *

  by

  * Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta *

  * 1 *

  "Must be a sign of maturity," Jaina teased.

  "Who, me?" Jacen said, pretending to take offense. "Nah." Then, as if to

  disprove her theory, he flashed a lopsided grin that made him look like a

  younger version of their father, Han Solo. "Want to hear a joke?"

  Jaina rolled her eyes and tucked a strand of straight brown hair behind one

  ear to keep it away from her face. "Don't suppose you'd take no for an

  answer?" Then pretending to have a brilliant idea, she snapped her fingers.

  'Say, why don't you go up to the cockpit and tell it to Tenel Ka instead?"

  She knew full well that the young warrior woman, one of their closest

  friends at the Jedi academy, had never even smiled - much less laughed - at

  Jacen's jokes, though he tried daily to coax a chuckle from her.

  "I want you to be a test audience first," he said. "Then I'll go try it on

  Lowie - wherever he is. He's got a pretty good sense of humor for a

  Wookiee."

  "Shouldn't be too hard to find him," Jaina said. "The Falcon's not that big,

  and you can be pretty sure he's somewhere near a computer."

  "Hey, you're just trying to distract me from telling my joke," Jacen said.

  "You ready?"

  Jaina heaved a long-suffering sisterly sigh. "All right, what's the joke?"

  "Okay, how long does Uncle Luke need to sleep?"

  She gave a puzzled frown. "You got me.''

  "One Jedi night!" He laughed out loud, proud of his joke.

  Jaina gave a melodramatic groan. "I don't think even Lowie will laugh at

  that one."

  Jacen looked crestfallen. "I thought it was one of my best jokes so far. I

  made it up myself." Then his face brightened. "Hey, I wonder if Zekk is

  still hanging around back on Coruscant. He always laughed at my jokes."

  Jaina smiled at the mention of their mischievous friend, a street urchin who

  had been taken in and cared for by old Peckhum, the man who brought supplies

  to the Jedi academy A couple of years older than the twins, Zekk had proven

  to be a resourceful scamp, despite his disadvantaged life. Jaina would sit

  and listen to Zekk for hours as he regaled her with stories of his childhood

  on Ennth and how, when the colony had been devastated by a natural disaster,

  he had escaped on the next supply ship. Jaina had to admire Zekk's

  determination.

  The wild dark-haired boy never did anything unless he wanted to. In fact,

  when the captain of the rescue ship had suggested that Zekk might be better

  off in an orphanage or a foster home, Zekk had jumped ship to another

  outbound freighter at the very next stop and stowed away on it. From then on

  he had traveled from planet to planet, sometimes working as a cabin boy,

  sometimes stowing away, until one day he had met old Peckhum, who was on his

  way to Coruscant. Though both were independent, somehow a friendship had

  formed, and they had been together ever since.

  "Okay, Zekk might laugh at your joke," Jaina agreed at last. "He has a

  strange sense of humor."

  Leaving the Jedi academy far behind on Yavin 4, Jaina and Jacen watched the

  viewscreen in silence as the stars stretched into starlines and the

  Millennium Falcon flew into hyperspace, taking them toward Coruscant. Toward

  home. Sitting at the hologame table in the rec area, Jacen studied the

  board. He racked his brains for a strategy to counter Lowie's previous

  gambit.

  "It is your turn," Tenel Ka pointed out, her voice low and matter-of-fact.

  Jacen had been hoping to impress his friends by winning a game or two, but

  he found it hard to concentrate with Tenel Ka beside him. She crossed her

  bare arms over her reptile-skin tunic, watching his every move. Her reddish

  gold hair, tamed into numerous braids, dangled wildly around her head and

  shoulders every time she spoke or shifted position.

  Across the table, Jaina stood behind Lowie and conferred with the

  ginger-furred Wookiee in a whisper, pointing from one holographic gamepiece

  to another. The tiny wriggling figures on the table seemed impatient for

  Jacen to make his next move. A thin film of perspiration formed on his

  forehead and upper lip. Jacen knew he didn't stand a chance against the

  computer whiz-especially not while Jaina was helping Lowie.

  "We'll be coming out of hyperspace in about five standard minutes," Han Solo

  announced from the cockpit. "You kids ready?"

  "Hey, Dad, can we try some target practice?" Jacen leaped to his feet, glad

  for the interruption. Finally, something he was good at!

  Jacen loved this game their father had devised for them. Whenever he brought

  them back to Coruscant in the Millennium Falcon, Han let the twins sit in

  the two gun wells. As the ship approached orbit, Jacen and Jaina scanned for

  floating chunks of metal and debris left over from the space battles that

  had raged over Coruscant years before, during the overthrow of the Empire.

  "We hardly ever find enough debris for both of us to shoot at," Jaina

  grumbled.

  "Oh yeah?" Jacen said, giving her his most challenging smile. "You're just

  worried because last time I hit something and you didn't. I'm sure we're

  going to find some wreckage to shoot at today. I have a good feeling about

  this." He shrugged once. "But if you're just not up to it …''

  Jaina's eyes narrowed as she accepted his challenge. A smile tugged at one

  corner of her mouth. "What are we waiting for?" she said. With that, she

  dashed toward one of the gun wells, leaving Jacen to scramble to the other.

  Tenel Ka followed him, while Lowie loped after Jaina, eager to help. Behind

  them, the blurry monstrous figures on the hologame table hunkered down and

  waited for somebody to make a move.

  Jacen settled into the overlarge seat of the bottom gun well. He strapped in

  and leaned forward to take the laser-cannon firing controls as Tenel Ka

  dropped into place beside him. Her granite-gray eyes narrowed, intent on the

  weaponry. "Watch that screen there," Jacen said. "Help me get a target.

  There's plenty of debris left, but it's all pretty small."

  "Even small, such wreckage could be deadly to incoming ships," Tenel Ka

  said.

  "This is a fact," Jacen answered with a grin, echoing his friend's

  often-used phrase. "That's why we clear it out every chance we get." Loud

  explosions sounded from the other gun well as Jaina began firing her quad

  lasers. Jacen heard a loud Wookiee roar of encouragement.

  "Hey, how did she target so fast?" he said.

  "Honing in," Tenel Ka said, pointing at glowing lines on the tracking

  screen.

  "Oh! Well, I could fire too-if I was paying attention," Jacen said. He swung

  the four-barreled weapon into position, then watched the targeting cross

  move closer and closer. Mayb
e it was an old shielding plate from a blown-up

  Star Destroyer, or an empty cargo pod dumped by a fleeing smuggler. He

  tracked in closer. . . .

  "Stay on target," Tenel Ka said. "Stay on target . . . fire!"

  Jacen reacted instantly, squeezing the firing buttons, and all four laser

  cannons shot focused beams that vaporized the hunk of debris. "Yahoo!" he

  yelled. A similar whoop of delight came from the other gun well.

  "It would appear that Jaina also hit her target," Tenel Ka said.

  "Don't get cocky, kids," Han shouted good-naturedly from the cockpit. His

  copilot Chewbacca roared agreement.

  "Just making the galaxy safe for peaceful navigation, Dad,'' Jacen called .

  "We're at a tie," Jaina said. "We need one more shot each. Please, Dad?"

  "You twins are always at a tie," Han answered. "If I let you keep shooting

  until one of you scores and the other doesn't, we'll be circling the solar

  system for years. Come on back up to the cockpit. We're almost home."

  As the Millennium Falcon settled onto a clear rooftop, Lowbacca unbuckled

  his crash restraints and groaned. The landing on Coruscant had been smooth,

  and he had enjoyed his time optimizing the Falcon's computers-but he was

  anxious to get back into the open air. Even city air, as long as he could be

  high enough off the ground.

  By the time Lowie reached the ship's exit ramp, Jacen and Jaina had managed

  to unfasten their crash webbing too. The twins sped past him down the ramp

  and into the waiting arms of their mother. Leia Organa Solo, the New

  Republic 's Chief of State, stood on the landing platform with her younger

  son, Anakin Solo, and the golden protocol droid See-Threepio.

  Lowie adjusted the miniaturized translating droid, Em Teedee, at his hip and

  made his way down the ramp, watching the close family scene with a certain

  amount of envy. Dark-haired Anakin hovered beside his two older siblings,

  asking occasional questions, his ice-blue eyes taking in everything. Leia,

  her long brown hair arranged in intricate coils, looked at all three of her

  children with obvious pride and affection. When Han Solo came out to join

  the reunion, the family erupted in another joyous burst of kisses and hugs

  and hair ruffling. Lowie missed his family on Kashyyyk.

  Jaina said, "Thanks for letting us bring our friends home with us for the

  visit, Mom."

  "Your friends are always welcome here," their mother replied. She stepped

  forward to greet Lowie with a warm smile, then bowed briefly to Tenel Ka,

  who had followed him down the ramp. "We're very honored to have you all

  here. Please treat the palace as if it were your own home.''

  Though Lowie didn't say a word, Em Teedee spoke up at his waist, chiming in

  with a delighted voice. "Ah, See-Threepio! My counterpart, my predecessor,

  my . . . mentor! I have many things to upload to you. You'll be most

  distressed to hear about some of the adventures I've had since Chewbacca

  first delivered me to the Jedi academy-"

  "To be sure! A pleasure to see you again, Em Teedee," Threepio said. "I

  doubt, however, that your tribulations are anything compared to the heavy

  diplomatic responsibilities I have to bear here on Coruscant. You simply

  couldn't believe how easily offended some of these outworld ambassadors can

  be!"

  As the two droids chattered along in near-identical voices, Lowie rolled his

  large Wookiee eyes. Chewbacca, having finished the Falcon's shutdown

  procedures, came out to join his nephew just as Lowie handed Em Teedee over

  to See-Threepio so that the two could reminisce as "family" for a while.

  Lowie heaved a small sigh, thinking of his homeworld of Kashyyyk, his

  parents, and his younger sister. His uncle placed a sympathetic hand on his

  hairy shoulder. Perhaps Chewbacca sensed Lowie's homesickness, because he

  immediately launched into a description in Wookiee language of the room he

  had picked for his nephew to sleep in-one of the highest rooms in the

  Imperial Palace . Though Lowie would see no treetops from his window,

  Chewbacca assured him that the heights were indeed breathtaking, which

  should make him feel comfortable and secure. Chewie had also seen to it that

  the room was furnished with trees and hammocks and lush green jungle plants.

  It wasn't as good as visiting home, Chewbacca said, but it was a great place

  for a vacation.

  Tenel Ka stared at the opulent room chosen for her by Leia Organa Solo. The

  furniture was beautifully carved, and the draperies and bed coverings were

  of the finest quality. The mattress looked soft and luxurious. It felt like

  home in the Fountain Palace on Hapes. Tenel Ka shuddered. She was a princess

  of Hapes, since her father, the son of the former queen, a powerful

  matriarch, now ruled the Hapes cluster with his Dathomiran wife. But Tenel

  Ka had kept this fact hidden from her friends at the Jedi academy,

  preferring instead to follow her mother's heritage from wild Dathomir. This

  palace was a bit too much like home on the Hapes central world - and Tenel

  Ka was uncomfortable with such amenities right now.

  "Ah," she said. "Aha."

  Striding to the bed, she yanked the covers off and pulled the pad onto the

  polished stone floor. She squatted down on it and nodded with satisfaction.

  The room no longer seemed as posh and fluffy-therefore, it was much more

  comfortable, not to mention much more suitable for a tough warrior woman.

  This was a fact.

  * 2 *

  AS SHE TRIED to sleep, Jaina thought of how different Coruscant was from the

  thick jungles of Yavin 4. The planet-wide capital city bustled with an

  intensity and energy that filtered into every aspect of daily life. Unlike

  the tiny moon, which managed to still itself in the quiet hours before dawn,

  the New Republic 's central world stayed awake all the time. Her brother

  Jacen blinked his bleary brown eyes as he joined her in the dining area the

  next morning. Tenel Ka and Lowbacca had risen early and, already at work on

  their morning meals, greeted the twins as they arrived. The golden protocol

  droid See-Threepio hurried about , making sure the guests had a fine eating

  experience.

  Lowie ate steaming pieces of heated (but still raw) red meat from a

  gold-etched plate frilled with sculptured loops; Threepio had used the best

  diplomatic tableware and the choicest garnishes. The Wookiee youth, however,

  seemed to have trouble avoiding the decorative sprigs and delicate flowers

  that adorned the bloody meal. Tenel Ka, using a small dagger to poke at her

  plate, speared a piece of fruit.

  "Ah, good morning, Mistress Jaina, Master Jacen," Threepio said. "Such a

  pleasure to have you home with us again."

  Jaina glanced at the holographic window that stretched across the wall of

  the room - actually an image transmitted from one of the towers elsewhere in

  the great city. Because their mother was the important Chief of State, their

  family quarters were protected deep within the palace, without any real

  windows to the outside. Jaina knew that many other diplomats around the city

  were looking out their own false windows at the same projected image.

  "Thanks,
Threepio," Jacen said. "We've been looking forward to this

  vacation. Uncle Luke has been teaching us some terrific Jedi skills, but it

  can be exhausting."

  The droid tapped his gold-plated hands together. "I am delighted to hear it,

  Master Jacen. Although I am naturally quite busy tutoring young Master

  Anakin, I have taken the liberty of setting up a fine curriculum of studies

  for you while you remain here on Coruscant. Your guests are more than

  welcome to attend classes as well. Oh, it will be just like old times!"

  "Classes!" Jacen interrupted as he plopped down in a chair and began to

  shovel breakfast into his mouth. "You're joking, right?"

  "Oh, no, Master Jacen," Threepio said sternly. "You mustn't neglect your

  studies."

  "Sorry, Threepio," Jaina said, "but we have other plans today."

  Before the droid could advance his argument any further, the twins' mother

  came into the room. "Good morning, kids," Leia said.

  Jaina smiled at her mother. Princess Leia looked as beautiful as in the old

  picture Jaina had seen from the Rebellion. Since that time, Leia had taken

  on extremely heavy political duties and devoted most of her waking hours -

  along with quite a few of those she should have spent sleeping - to

  untangling knots in the threads of diplomacy.

  "What are you doing today, Mom?" Jaina asked.

  Leia sighed and rolled her dark brown eyes in an expression that Jaina often