Star Wars - [Young Jedi Knights 1] - Heirs Of The Force
Page 11
The third melted area lay high on the cargo compartment, close to the open transparisteel canopy that protected the cockpit. Jacen took the last pack and crawled atop the small craft. He popped the seal, applied the patch, and waited for the animated sealant to do its work.
As he watched the gooey substance finish its repairs, Jacen heard small creatures stirring around him. He sensed something nearby and, looking down into the cargo space, saw a glimmer of movement, almost transparent, barely noticeable. Jacen's heart leaped. He leaned down, reaching deep into the TIE fighter, and grabbed for it. Hope began to fill him.
"Boy, get out of there!" Qorl yelled. "Come back where I can see you."
Panting, his heart pounding, Jacen pulled himself free. He backed away from the cockpit and jumped to the ground, keeping his hands clearly in sight.
Jaina bent over and whispered to him with concern in her eyes. "What are you doing? What did you find in there?"
Jacen grinned at her, then recovered his expression before Qorl could notice it. "Something that might save us all."
"No more talking," Qorl snapped. "Hurry."
"We're doing the best we can," Jaina replied.
"Not good enough," the pilot said. "Do you need encouragement? If you cannot complete repairs faster, I will shoot your brother. Then you will complete the repairs by yourself."
Both Jacen and Jaina looked at the TIE pilot in shock. "Qorl, you wouldn't do that," Jaina said.
"I received my training from the Empire," Qorl answered. "I will do what is necessary."
Jacen swallowed-he knew the TIE pilot was telling the truth. "Yeah, I'll bet you would," he said.
With a sigh and an expression of disgust, Jaina stood up and tossed the hydrospanner onto a pile of tools on the jungle floor. She brushed her hands down her thighs, wiping grime on the legs of her jumpsuit.
"Never mind," she said. "It's finished. We've done everything we can. The TIE fighter is ready to fly again."
Chapter 17
Inside the torchlit temples of the Jedi academy, Lowbacca bellowed in confusion and alarm. He waved his lanky, hairy arms to emphasize the urgency of the situation. He didn't know how to make them understand him; he only knew he had to warn them of the TIE fighter, had to get help for Jacen and Jaina and Tenel Ka.
Tionne and the other Jedi candidates around her grew agitated. None of them could speak the Wookiee language. "Lowbacca, we can't understand you," she said. "Where is your translator droid?"
Lowie patted his hip again and made a distressed sound. He'd have never imagined he'd be so upset not to have the jabbering droid at his side.
"Where are Jacen, Jaina, and Tenel Ka?" Tionne asked. "Are they all right?"
Lowbacca bellowed again and gestured out into the jungle, trying to explain everything.
"Was there an accident? Are they hurt?" Tionne asked. Her mother-of-pearl eyes were wide and her silver hair flowed about her as if it were alive. With her long, delicate hands, she clutched Lowie's furred arm.
Her voice had been so calm and silky when she sang Jedi ballads to the gathered students in the grand audience chamber. Now her words had a hard, crystalline edge, the forcefulness of a true Jedi Knight.
Lowbacca tried to think of how to explain, but his growing frustration made it more and more difficult. He had no words they could understand. Yes, he could gesture back toward the jungle-but how to describe a crashed TIE fighter? A surviving Imperial pilot? The twins taken hostage?
The young Jedi Knights had kept their little project completely secret while they were making repairs to the crashed ship. Jaina had wanted the revamped craft to be a surprise she could show off to the other trainees. But now having kept it a secret was working against them. No one could guess what he was talking about; no one knew about the crash site.
He didn't know what had happened to Tenel Ka, either. Had she been killed, or had she somehow escaped? Was she even now lost in the jungles by herself, being stalked by predators? He moaned in dismay.
Unable to restrain himself, Lowie rattled off the whole story in loud Wookiee grunts and roars. Everyone around him grew agi tated, unable to decipher a word he was saying. Finally, his frustration got the best of him: Lowie pounded his fists on one of the stone walls and pushed past Tionne and the other Jedi candidates into the cool shadows of the Great Temple.
"Where are you going, Lowbacca?" Tionne called, but he didn't answer her.
Though Lowie was still tired, the others could not catch up with him. With only the slightest limp, his long, muscular legs carried him down the winding corridors of the ancient stone ruin. Breathless, he reached the room that had been the old command center when the temple served as a Rebel base. Luke Skywalker maintained it to keep contact with the rest of the New Republic.
He knew his uncle Chewbacca was still in the Yavin system, near the orange gas giant where Lando Calrissian had set up his orbiting mining facility for Corusca gems. If only Lowie could get in touch with the Millennium Falcon, speak to his uncle, he could explain everything directly. Chewbacca-- along with Jaceh and Jaina's father, Han Solo--would know just what to do.
With a loud sigh of relief, Lowie sank into a chair in front of a console. The station was filled with the only things in the Jedi academy that seemed familiar to him at this moment: the computers and electronic equipment. He knew exactly how to communicate with them.
Lowbacca worked the controls with speed and determination, tapping his clawed fingers over the appropriate buttons. He had already established an open channel to the Falcon by the time Tionne and the others caught up with him in the Communicatior Center.
Tionne immediately realized what he was doing, and she nodded. "Good idea, Lowbacca!" She waited beside the young Wookiee as a sleepy-sounding Han Solo answer the call.
"Yeah, this is Solo. Who's calling? Luke? Is this the Jedi academy?" Lowbacca bleated into the microphone pickup, hoping the human pilot would understand him.
Tionne leaned over next to Lowbacca before he could continue and spoke into the voice pickup. "Something has happened here, General Solo. The twins and Tenel have disappeared, and Lowbacca is trying to tell us what happened. But he can't make us understand him. He's lost his translator droid."
With a roar of surprise, Chewbacca came on the line. Excited, Lowie once again explained everything as fast as he could in the Wookiee language. Chewbacca roared back in outrage, and Han broke in.
"Quiet, old buddy, I heard most of that, but a few of the details were sketchy. Something about a crashed TIE fighter and an Imperial soldier taking them hostage?"
Both Wookiees made loud sounds of agreement.
"Okay, sit tight. We're on our way!" Han said. "We can undock from Lando's station in just a few seconds. "We were ready to get out of here anyway. The Falcon'll be there in about two hours--middle of the local morning, I think. Just hold on and get ready to help me fight for the kids!"
Lowie and Chewbacca both bellowed in agreement. Tionne looked at the young Wookiee in amazement. "A TIE fighter! Imperials here? Quick, we must get everyone ready in case they attack."
With a searing white flicker from its aft sublight engines, the Millennium Falcon cruised through the deep blue atmosphere toward the ancient Massassi structures. Lowie stood in the open landing area in front of the Great Temple, anxious to see his uncle. He waved his shaggy arms for the ship as it approached.
The bright light of morning grew warmer with each passing minute. The two hours it had taken for the Millennium Falcon to leave the Yavin gas giant and approach the jungle moon had seemed the longest of Lowie's life.
Now he stepped back into the shade of the temple as the Falcon settled to the ground with hissing bursts of its repulsorlift engines. The landing pads settled and stabilized, and then the boarding ramp came down like an opening mouth.
Chewbacca bounded down the ramp, ducking his hairy head to keep from bumping the low ceiling, and headed toward the temple. Lowie ran to meet him halfway, limping slightly. H
an Solo charged out and joined them, his blaster already drawn.
"Ready to rescue the kids? Let's go!" Han said. Tionne and several of the other Jedi candidates hurried out. Han looked around. "Where's Luke? Isn't he back yet?"
"Master Skywalker isn't here," Tionne said. "We have to defend ourselves."
"Well take care of it," Han said. "Lando gave us some extra weapons, and all our laser cannon banks are charged. Lowie, can you show us where they're being held?"
Lowbacca nodded his shaggy head.
"If there are any more Imperial TIE fighters around," Han said, "the most important thing you can do is guard the Jedi academy, Tionne. This would be their obvious target. The Empire doesn't particularly like the New Republic getting another batch of Jedi Knights."
"We'll be here to defend the academy, General Solo," Tionne said. "You find the children."
"All right, Lowie," Han said. "Let's go--no time to waste."
Chapter 18
The roar of twin ion engines shattered the deep stillness of the jungle morning as the TIE fighter returned to life. Birds squawked in terror and fled into the high branches. Dust and dry, crumbling leaves scattered in clouds around the Imperial ship.
Encased in the cockpit, Qorl throttled up the power, slowly, gently, as if feeling it grow at his fingertips. Foul brownish exhaust spat out of the clogged vent ports in the rear of the single-fighter craft. The Imperial ship growled, ready for action again after its long retirement.
The TIE pilot emerged from the cockpit, his battered black helmet in hand, the respirator hoses dangling and disconnected from his empty emergency-oxygen supply. Although the glossy blast goggles had been scratched and worn down during the years of his exile, he carried the helmet proudly, like a trophy.
Qorl was ready to report back to duty.
"Propulsion systems check out," he said. "With the addition of the functional hyper-drive motor you installed, I am now able to cross the galaxy and find the remnants of my Empire. This short-range fighter could not otherwise have taken me there."
"Good work, Jaina," Jacen grumbled. She elbowed him in the ribs, and he fell silent.
"What are you going to do with us, Qorl?" Jaina asked the pilot. "Why go away from here? If you'd just come back with us to the Jedi academy, everything would be all right--the war is over."
"Surrender is betrayal!" Qorl shouted, with a surge of emotion stronger than Jacen had seen in him before. The pilots hand shook as he pointed the ever-present blaster at them. "Your usefulness to me is at an end," he said, his voice a low threat.
Jacen's stomach clenched with sudden dread. Jaina had hoped to make the TIE fighter her own vehicle so she could joyride just like Lowie did in his revamped T-23. But the small fighter could carry only one person: the pilot. Qorl could never take them along as prisoners, even if he wanted to. Would the pilot remove his last obstacles--the only witnesses to his exile--with clean Imperial efficiency? Would he just shoot them both and then fly off in search of his home?
Jacen desperately tried to send calming thoughts to soothe Qorl, as he so frequently did with his crystal snakes. But it was no use: his mind encountered the rigid wall of brainwashing that had locked Qorl's thoughts into unchangeable patterns.
The TIE pilot looked away, and his temper seemed to lessen. Jacen couldn't tell if that was a result of his Jedi powers or if the Imperial soldier had simply been distracted.
"So what are you going to do with us?" Jacen asked.
Qorl glanced back at the twins, his face haggard. He looked very old and drained. "You have helped me a great deal. You were the only ... company I have had for many years. I will leave you here alone in the jungle."
"You're just going to abandon us?" Jaina asked in disbelief. This time, Jacen elbowed her in the ribs. He didn't relish the idea of being stranded in the jungle any more than she did, but several less-appealing possibilities had occurred to him.
"You can survive if you are resourceful," Qorl said. "I know, because I did. Perhaps someone will find you eventually. Hope is your best weapon. It may not take twenty years for you to get home."
He pondered for a moment, holding his dark helmet in his hands. Behind him, the repaired TIE fighter continued to purr, as if anxious to fly again. "You are lucky to be here, safe," Qorl finally said. "I will rejoin the Empire. But as my last act here on this cursed jungle moon, I am going to destroy the Rebel base."
"No!" Jacen and Jaina both shouted in unison.
"It's just a school now. It's not a military base," Jacen added.
"Please don't do this!" Jaina said. "Don't attack the Jedi academy."
But Qorl gave no sign that he heard them. He carefully placed the battered old helmet on his shaggy head and tightened down the blast shield.
"Wait!" Jaina cried, her eyes pleading. "They have no weapons in the temples!" She reached out with her mind, trying to touch the pilot, but he aimed his blaster at her and backed away.
Qorl climbed into the cockpit of the TIE fighter, eased himself into the ancient, torn seat in front of the controls, and sealed himself in. The twins rushed forward, pounding on the hull with their fists.
The roar of the engines increased and the repulsorlifts sent out a blast that knocked leaves, pebbles, and jungle debris in all directions.
The TIE fighter hummed, shifted from its overgrown resting place, and began to rise.
Jaina tried one last time to grab the hull plates, but her fingers slid along the smooth metal. Jacen pulled her back as the TIE's engine power increased. The exhaust shrieked through the fighter's cooling systems.
The twins staggered back under the protection of one of the overarching Massassi trees, alone and defenseless in the thick jungles.
Qorl's TIE fighter, which had lain hidden and crippled on the surface of Yavin 4 for more than twenty years, finally rose into the air. Its twin ion engines made the characteristic moaning sound that had struck fear into the hearts of so many Rebel fighters.
With surprisingly skillful maneuvering and a burst of speed, Qorl's fighter climbed up through the forest canopy and soared away toward the Jedi academy.
Chapter 19
In the darkness of the jungle night, Tenel Ka plunged through tangled vines and dense, thorny thickets, hoping that the flying reptiles would not be able to follow. She panted from the exertion; breath burned in her lungs, but she did not cry out.
She could still hear the flap of the reptiles' wide, leathery wings close behind her as they swooped in for the kill with their razor talons. The raucous cries of their hideous twin heads chilled her blood. She remembered hearing that such a beast had almost killed Master Skywalker many years ago. How did the monsters manage to maneuver in the crowded jungle? she wondered. Why couldn't she lose them?
The bushes beside her hissed and rattled, and a stinger tail narrowly missed her arm. One of the winged monsters was directly above her, then. What could she do?
She pushed through a narrower space between two trees and heard a thump above her as the flying creature got stuck in the opening between the trees. Good, she thought. The rest would have to go around. That would buy her some time.
Tenel Ka pelted across a clearing toward the shadow of what she hoped was another patch of underbrush, but she had misjudged the speed with which the reptilian creatures could navigate the jungle obstacles. She could feel the menacing wind from their wings as one of them swooped down directly in her path.
She sensed, rather than saw, the outstretched claws, and tried to turn aside, but slipped on rotting vegetation and fell hard against a fungus-covered log. She sensed a second pair of claws rip through the air where her stomach had been only moments before. She shuddered as twin heads cried out in rage and frustration above her, tearing at thick, tangled twigs in the brush.
Why couldn't she remember her Jedi calming techniques when she needed them? Why hadn't she practiced harder? She closed her eyes, sensed, and rolled to one side as the flying monster drove down for another attack.
Sense, she told herself. Use the Force.
Suddenly, she changed direction, as if by reflex. She didn't quite know why she had, for she couldn't see where she was going in the thick night, but she knew she was right. Over and over, she dodged grasping talons and the thrust of stinging tails, until she came to a thick stand of Massassi trees. At her noisy approach, a chorus of squawks and scolding chitters erupted from the trees ahead.
Woolamanders-an entire pack, from the sound of them. She had probably disturbed their communal sleep. Perhaps they would be sufficient distraction.
Tenel Ka crouched low and dove into the shelter of the close- growing trees. Surprisingly, not one of the winged monsters followed. Instead, she heard their cries as they circled above and, deprived of their initial prey, hunted the woolamanders instead. The flying creatures screamed their blood lust, and the voices of the terrified woolamanders became fierce and defiant as the battle raged in the branches far overhead.
Sweat, twigs, leaves, and dirt clung to Tenel Ka's red-gold hair. She shook her head to clear it. She was almost certain that through the racket, she had somehow heard a faint, familiar voice.
"Oh please, do be careful. My circuitry is extremely complex and should not under any circumstances be--" The voice cut off a moment later with a tiny wail. Then there was a thud as something hard landed beside Tenel Ka's foot.
"Em Teedee, is that you?" she said. She groped around on the ground and picked up the rounded metallic form.
"Oh, Mistress Tenel Ka, it is you!" the little droid cried. "I shall be eternally grateful to you for this rescue. Why, you have no idea the ordeal I've been through," he moaned. "The poking, the prodding, the shaking, the tossing. And such a dreadful--"