Reunion: Force Heretic III

by Sean Williams

  “What does that mean?”

  “Well, we heard from someone, but it wasn’t who we expected.”

  Jaina sighed, too tired to play games. “Can someone please tell me what’s going on?”

  “We picked up a passenger as we were leaving Onadax,” Han explained. “Someone who said he was trying to escape the riots. We haven’t had much chance to talk to him since we took him aboard, but I’m guessing he’s not the one we’re looking for.”

  “He’s the right species,” Leia added, “but doesn’t know much about what’s going on.”

  “And who is he, exactly?”

  “He’s Droma,” came a distinctly Ryn voice over the comm. “It’s nice to speak to you again, Jaina.”

  Jaina’s eyes widened in surprise. “It’s good to hear your voice,” she managed.

  “Hey, I told you to wait in the hold,” she heard her father say.

  “What, you think I’m going to take your secrets and sell them to the Vong or something?” The Ryn blew a rapid, lamenting tune from the chitinous, flutelike nose sported by the members of his species. Its sound came clearly down the comm. “Don’t be so paranoid.”

  “This has got nothing to do with paranoia! It’s to do with privacy.”

  Their voices slowly faded into the background, culminating in a tired sigh from Leia—as though having the two of them on board together was already proving too exhausting for her.

  “As soon as we’re in orbit, I’m coming across, Mom.”

  “Personally I think you’re better off where you are. But, if you feel you have to, then I’ll let your father know you’re coming.”

  Jacen helped Danni up from the floor of the passenger bay. He waited a moment as she rubbed a dull fog from her eyes. Nearby, his uncle knelt by Saba and Tekli, gently rousing them.

  “Welcome back,” Jacen said.

  “How—?” Danni started groggily. “How long was I out?”

  “A few hours,” he said.

  “We’re here?”

  He smiled broadly. “Yes, we’re here, Danni. Come see for yourself.”

  Seeing that she was still feeling vague and disoriented, he steadied her as she made her way to the rear of the ship to where the exit hatch hung invitingly open. Before he’d taken one step down the egress ramp, he felt his breath taken from his lungs at the sight outside.

  Knee-high grass swayed in a serene breeze beneath a magnificent deep blue sky. The air was filled with a fine down—possibly pollen from numerous flowering plants scattered about the area. Jacen breathed in deeply, savoring the thousand exotic scents and enjoying the slight giddiness the fragrances caused in him.

  We made it, he thought as he descended the ramp and set foot on the planet’s soil. We’re actually on Zonama Sekot.

  After a dozen steps through the grass, he stopped to let her look up at the multicolored globe of Mobus suspended in the sky above, resembling a mighty, baleful eye bulging down upon them.

  “Incredible, isn’t it?” he said softly.

  “I don’t know what impresses me most,” she said. “The view, or the fact that we’re actually standing on a sentient planet.”

  “Don’t worry,” he said, “I’m sure the locals will manage to dampen your excitement a little.”

  “The locals—?” For the first time she noticed the two tall figures standing some distance away to their left, quietly conferring with one another. “Why? What’s wrong with them?”

  “Let’s just say they’re not particularly overjoyed to see us,” another voice said. They both turned to see Mara, striding toward them across the grass.

  “What exactly happened?” Danni asked. “Did they knock us out?”

  Together, Mara and Jacen explained the situation as best they could. They told her of the space battle and the Yuuzhan Vong expedition, Jade Shadow’s descent to the surface of Zonama Sekot, Luke and Mara’s encounter with the Ferroans and the Magister, and the imprisonment of the ship. On hearing this part, Danni went to examine the verdant fronds that had crept up the landing struts of Jade Shadow, confirming Mara’s assertion that they weren’t going to leave anytime soon. There was a ferocious vitality surging through the leaves; cut one and three more would undoubtedly grow in its wake.

  “What about the Widowmaker?” Danni asked.

  “The other vessel will come to no harm as long as it remains in orbit,” came the voice of one of the Ferroans from behind. Jacen turned to see the two wading through the tall grass toward them.

  “But how did you do this?” Jacen felt Danni reach out with her growing perception of the Force to taste the world around them. She felt what he did: no mind, no thoughts; just a constant pressure—similar to what a body would feel at great depths in an ocean, only mental rather than physical. “By the Force?”

  “Sekot has many defenses,” the male Ferroan said unhelpfully.

  A groan in the direction of Jade Shadow announced the arrival of Soron Hegerty, assisted by Luke and closely followed by Tekli. Saba wasn’t far behind; the Barabel’s expression was suitably awestruck as the shock of displacement slowly faded. Saba’s hand rested on the lightsaber at her hip while her gaze constantly scanned the tree lines around them. It was clear that the hunter in her was not going to be distracted by the splendor and magnificence of her surroundings.

  “It is time,” the female Ferroan said. “We have a long walk ahead of us.”

  “Why?” Danni asked. “Where are we going?”

  “We’ll explain on the way,” Luke said.

  “Are the treez of your forest safe?” Saba asked.

  “They are not trees,” the woman said. “They’re called boras, and they make up the tampasi. They will harm you only if you attempt to harm them.”

  Without another word, the two Ferroans set off across the field, their pace suggesting that either the visitors keep up or they would get left behind.

  Jacen’s uncle turned to the Chadra-Fan. “Tekli, would you mind staying here and keeping an eye on Jade Shadow?”

  The diminutive Jedi bowed her head in acknowledgment. “Of course, Master Skywalker.”

  “We’ll keep our comlinks open at all times,” Luke assured her.

  Tekli bowed once more and then returned to Jade Shadow.

  Luke faced the others. “Is everyone ready?”

  “I don’t think we have much choice,” Jacen said, gesturing to the two Ferroans receding into the distance. “They’ll be disappearing over the horizon if we don’t get after them soon.”

  “Like I said,” Mara muttered as she headed off in the wake of their escorts. “Real friendly.”

  Jaina listened with interest to Droma’s simple story. Her parents had already heard it, but listened again with unflagging interest. Jaina received the distinct impression that Leia was almost hoping for an inconsistency to arise.

  After rescuing his sister at Fondor, Droma and his family had drifted from place to place, as was their custom. The encroaching front of the Yuuzhan Vong kept them moving at first toward the Core, then into the outer regions of the galaxy, seeking safer climes. There they encountered fierce parochialism, anti-Jedi sentiments, civil war, and other signs of collapsing infrastructure. It was all his family could do just to keep their collective heads above water.

  “Then we heard about the Ryn network.” Droma’s tail whipped and coiled as he paced the Falcon’s main hold as if it were an extra hand, gesticulating to emphasize certain points of his speech. “We knew of the Great River, but we weren’t qualified as resistance fighters or idealists. We’re just travelers, with our own unique skills. The thought of using those skills to gather and disseminate information as we traveled seemed so obvious, and I’m not surprised it took one of us to think of it. A great, galactic enterprise the Ryn could finally be part of! It seemed almost too good to be true.”

  “We’ve only met two from this network so far,” Jaina said. “There was one on Galantos, who saved us from a Peace Brigade trap, and Goure on Bakura who sent us he
re. He said that—”

  “That someone would be waiting for you,” Droma interrupted, nodding. “That sounds like them.”

  Jaina looked questioningly at her father, who just shrugged. “He does this. It takes some getting used to.”

  She looked back at the Ryn. “Are you able to tell us anything that might help us find the Ryn we were supposed to meet here?”

  Droma shrugged. “I can’t tell you much more than I already have. I came here to apply on behalf of my family. We wanted to become part of the network ourselves; we want to give something back to the people who helped us on Duro, without compromising what it means to be a Ryn. I don’t care what people think of us; I don’t want to be a hero. I just wanted to try to keep the clan safe, you know? I figure the more friends we have, the safer we are. If the ceiling’s about to come down on us all, I’d like to have some company.”

  “So what happened?” Jaina asked.

  Droma made a disappointed noise, deep in his throat. “They heard me out, but said they had no vacancies in the organization at this time—at least not where we were stationed. I said we’d be prepared to move to somewhere we were needed, but they weren’t interested.”

  “Would you be able—” Leia started.

  “To identify the boss Ryn?” Droma finished, shaking his mane of wiry hair doubtfully. “He’s about as shy as they come. And for good reason, too. It certainly sounds like he and his network have been helpful to you and other people in recent times, and the Yuuzhan Vong aren’t going to like that very much.”

  Jaina frowned. “So you can’t tell us any more about them?”

  “I would if I could, believe me. You helped me out, getting me off Onadax like that. It was about to get real ugly down there.”

  “You don’t know anything about that, I suppose,” Leia said. Her expression was one of acceptance, as though she finally believed the Ryn’s story, but there were still numerous holes to fill. “It looked to us like someone was pulling up stumps and getting rid of the evidence.”

  “Evidence of what?”

  “The network, I presume.”

  Droma shrugged again. “Sorry, but it’s no business of mine. I’m just here for the ride. If you could drop me off somewhere in the Juvex sector, though, I’d be extremely grateful. I can work my way back to the others from there.”

  “If we’re going that way, sure,” said Han. “What do you mean, ‘if’?”

  “Truth is, we don’t really know where we’re heading next,” Han said.

  Droma was looking at them as though they were speaking Gamorrean. “What about Esfandia?” he asked. “You’re going there, right? And Juvex is on the way.”

  “Esfandia?” Han repeated, frowning.

  “Esfandia is one of two small communications centers on the other side of the galaxy,” Leia said. “It services the Outer Rim. There used to be only one, Generis, but another was brought on-line at the beginning of the war.”

  “Why would we go there?” Jaina asked.

  “You don’t know what’s happened?” Droma appeared genuinely shocked.

  “No,” Jaina said. “What has happened?”

  “It’s only something I overheard while I was being interviewed,” he said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “A message came through while I was there. They mentioned something about the head Ryn not wanting to do anything about it, though, because he figured you guys would have already heard about it through official channels.”

  All eyes remained on Droma, waiting for him to explain.

  “You seriously don’t know what I’m talking about?”

  Jaina took a step toward him. “No, we don’t—and if you’re so good at reading what people are going to say, then you’ll know that I’m about to—”

  “Jaina,” her mother cautioned.

  Droma chuckled at this, glancing at Han. “I see she’s inherited the Solo temper.”

  “You can’t even begin to imagine,” Han said.

  The Ryn turned from Han back to Jaina. “Generis has been destroyed by the Yuuzhan Vong, and Esfandia is under attack.”

  “When?” Jaina asked,

  “Yesterday, I think.”

  “What has this got to do with us?” Han asked. “I know these sort of stations. If it’s Outer Rim, it’s probably automated, maybe staffed by a token crew to keep things maintained. If the Yuuzhan Vong have attacked it, it’s already lost.”

  Leia shook her head. “Cal Omas beefed up the defenses there before we left. It might still be holding on.”

  “And what if it isn’t?” Han asked. “Does it really matter if we lose contact with part of the Outer Rim?”

  “It’s not just any part of the Outer Rim,” Leia said. “Generis and Esfandia are the only relay centers we have servicing the Unknown Regions. Every communications signal to and from the Chiss goes through there. Take them out and you effectively put the Unknown Regions out of contact.”

  There was a moment’s silence as the implications suddenly sank in.

  They’d been walking for more than two standard hours in virtual silence. Darak and Rowel, their Ferroan guides, stayed for the most part ahead of Jacen and the others, rarely bothering to check that their guests were keeping up with them.

  This wasn’t necessarily a problem. There was more than enough to see. The tampasi was vigorous and rich with life. The trunk of each boras was a miniature ecosystem, supporting dozens of species of plants and fungi, which in turn provided homes and food for brightly colored insects. These insects became prey for lizards and arachnids, which were eaten by birds or larger animals still. Everywhere Jacen looked, he had the feeling that a tiny universe had, just that second, stopped in the middle of furious motion, and would start up again the moment he glanced away.

  Danni had complained that it didn’t make sense that they should have landed Jade Shadow so far away from their destination, but Darak had said that their ship was not permitted in the airspace around any inhabited area; it could interfere with the carefully balanced ecosystem of the planet.

  That Jacen could understand. There was only so much wonder he could take, though. His curiosity piqued by something his uncle had told him, he quickened his pace to bring himself alongside Darak. She didn’t turn to acknowledge him in any way, nor slow her pace.

  “My uncle tells me that you remember Vergere,” he said.

  “Your uncle is mistaken,” she said, keeping her gaze fixed on the path ahead. “I was a child when she and the other Jedi came to Zonama, and my settlement half a world away.”

  The other Jedi … Jacen felt the tug of this revelation like a physical force.

  “Your people, then,” he persisted. “You know of her. You’ve heard stories.”

  “Stories, yes. Bedtime stories for children.”

  He didn’t let the Ferroan’s frosty tone deter him. “I’m not sure whether you know it or not, but the Jedi were almost wiped out about fifty years ago. The ones who came here when you were a child would have been trained in the old ways. If we could learn more about them—”

  “Not all were trained,” Rowel put in. “One was an apprentice. Strong in his fashion, but unrefined.”

  “What happened to them here?”

  “We are guides,” Darak said sourly, “not historians.”

  “I know, but surely—”

  He stopped when a shadow passed over them. Glancing up into the upper reaches of the boras, Jacen looked just in time to see something large and dark pass overhead. It didn’t stay in view long enough for him to make out exactly what it was.

  The others had stopped also and were gazing upward. Darak and Rowel continued on unconcerned.

  “What was that?” Jacen asked.

  “A kybo,” Rowel called back. “Their fields are nearby.”

  “Are they dangerous?” Mara asked.

  “Hardly,” the woman said. “They’re airships.”

  Moments later they emerged from the dense tampasi into a clearing that was twice the size o
f the one in which Jade Shadow had landed. Hovering just above the ground were half a dozen enormous manta-shaped dirigibles. Of roughly the same proportions as Millennium Falcon, but at least three times larger, they cast deep shadows across the meadow. Each kybo had five slender lines anchoring it to gnarled roots that protruded from the ground, holding it taut against the gently tugging winds that blew across the vast, grassy area. Beneath each hung a single bullet-shaped gondola with two bone-colored fans protruding from the rear.

  Higher up, drifting over the tops of the enormous boras, Jacen could see a further three of the airships, as well as another one at the far end of the field coming in to land. Decorated in long, sweeping stripes of purple and orange across rough white skin, the crafts stood out against the lush green backdrop of the tampasi.

  Working around the area were thirty or more Ferroans, some carrying baskets, some working on gondolas, others securing lines. They all looked incredibly industrious.

  “Couldn’t we have traveled to your village in one of these?” Danni asked.

  The two Ferroans were already meters away from her after she’d stopped to take in the sight.

  Darak stopped to answer her. “These airships are not transports,” she said. “They’re harvesters. They are used to collect produce from the tops of the boras.”

  Luke, Mara, Saba, and Soron emerged from the tree line together, all looking in wonder at the spectacle around and above them. They moved as a group over to where one man was working on repairs to a gondola that was lying on the grass on its side. The accompanying dirigible floated directly overhead, its anchor lines creaking as the great balloonlike structure moved in the wind.

  Jacen felt confident stepping beneath the massive dirigible. From where he stood, he could see that it was composed of dozens of smaller bladders full of gas, each separated by thin membranes. For the craft to crash, a majority of those bladders would have to fail simultaneously, an eventuality too unlikely to worry about.

  Inside the gondola was dark and dank. From the sunlight available he could make out benches for sitting on as well as a number of large baskets woven from vines, obviously for the harvested fruit. The sides were moist and ribbed, and he couldn’t help thinking that to sit in one would have been like riding in the belly of a giant whaladon.