Under A Black Sun Trilogy

by Kevin J. Anderson

  "It seems designed to be most amusing," Tenel Ka observed in a deadpan

  voice.

  As they walked along, Lando squinted up at the uniformed workers.

  A gray-tufted Ugnaught shift supervisor chittered at him, then squeaked

  what must have been an announcement for all the construction workers to

  take a brief break. The shift supervisor descended from the top of a

  tall hovercoaster section, swinging down arm over arm from a lattice of

  support structures until he landed in front of Lando.

  He chattered along in a lengthy speech, waving his arms and

  gesticulating as he made some sort of explanation. From Lowie's side

  Em Teedee piped up, "I believe I speak Ugnaught rather well, Master

  Calrissian. Would you like me to translate?"

  " Not necessary, Em Teedee," he said. "I spent plenty of years on

  Cloud City. I wouldn't have been much good as a Baron-Administrator if

  I couldn't speak Ugnaught, now would I?"

  Lando chattered something back in the alien-sounding language.

  The Ugnaught shift boss nodded, then leapt to a crossbrace on the

  hovercoaster track and clambered up, yelling for the crew to get back

  to their duties. The other Ugnaughts returned to work, attaching

  crossbraces to the high-speed levitating hovercoaster.

  "The new shift supervisor says everything's on schedule," Lando told

  them.

  "What happened to the previous supervisor?" Zekk asked, narrowing his

  eyes against the flickering play of shadows, dazzling laser light, and

  high-spectrum glowpanels.

  "Cojahn fired him a few days before he fell from the balcony. Kind of

  a feisty Ugnaught. He was always arguing with Cojahn about

  something.

  Distinctive-looking guy, I guess. According to the records, a patch of

  fur got burned off his head in an accident, because he refused to use

  appropriate safety procedures." Lando frowned suspiciously.

  "Apparently Cojahn disagreed with the former supervisor's methods. His

  replacement, though, assures me that Cojahn was a good boss, very

  attentive, insisting that all work be done to exacting standards. He

  accepted slower progress just so they could add more safety

  features."

  Lando shook his head.

  Jaina stepped closer to him. "If Cojahn was so concerned with safety,

  it doesn't seem likely he'd be careless enough to slip and fall off a

  dangerous outer balcony."

  "Not on your life," Lando said vehemently. "Cojahn was so careful, so

  protective of other people and his own safety he wouldn't even let his

  daughters sit in their repulsorswings without being strapped in.

  He'd never have just fallen off a balcony."

  "He could have jumped though," Anja suggested in her usual sour tone.

  She tossed her long mane of hair behind her shoulders and straightened

  the headband. "Couldn't take the pressure or the responsibility,

  maybe? You never can tell about some people."

  "I can," Lando said. "And I can tell you that Cojahn would never have

  taken a swan dive-and certainly not at this time in his life.

  Everything was going right for him. This was gonna be our big

  break."

  Together, they continued walking through a narrow, oddly angled

  corridor. The trapezoidal walls and upwardly sloping ramps seemed

  designed to disorient and confuse any visitors. Moving mirrors added

  to the confusion, and Jaina found it difficult to keep her footing.

  As they stepped past a set of hidden sensors that triggered a new

  display, glimmering images of slavering holographic monsters suddenly

  appeared in the air. Scaled and clawed beasts lunged out of darkened

  alcoves with ferocious synthesized roars.

  Zekk yelled. Lowie snarled. Tenel Ka leapt into a battle stance,

  yanking the rancor-tooth lightsaber loose from her belt. But Jacen

  just laughed, making a face at the hideous images. "Those simulated

  creatures are ridiculous, Lando," he said. "Who could believe anything

  that ugly would exist in this universe?"

  Anja just snorted. "I've seen plenty of ugly things."

  "Okay, but the feel is all wrong. If these are supposed to be

  landbound predators, they need some sort of camouflage coloring, not

  glowpanel yellow or repulsodet blue. They wouldn't all come from the

  same direction, either. You could add some high ledges or branches.

  And it wouldn't be hard to program your holobeasts to respond to

  visitors' movements."

  Lando glanced appraisingly at the illusionary monsters, which still

  roared and slashed ineffectively at them. He waved his hands in front

  of the nearest image; the projected beast didn't react. "Maybe you're

  right, Jacen. We should make the holothreats a bit more interesting at

  that." Next they passed an enormous antigravity playchamber-currently

  nonfunctional. The spherical room had padded walls and strange

  formed-foam obstacles protruding from the sides. As Jaina peered

  through one of the observation ports, she could see that the chamber

  must have been tested at least once, judging by the discarded, dented

  paint containers and the splatters that had all fallen in an impact

  pattern around the curved walls.

  Lando punched a command into his datapad and reoriented his holographic

  model. As the others drew closer to look at the tiny rendering of the

  amusement park, he pointed out the various rides and experience

  chambers he and Cojahn had planned in their grand scheme for SkyCenter

  Galleria.

  "Some of this was going to be in Phase II." He shook his head.

  He kept his voice flat as he struggled to control his emotions, though

  Jaina could tell that Lando remained deeply disturbed. "We'd intended

  this place to be a long-term investment, our greatest success. We had

  a ten-year plan for expanding, bringing in new people."

  He stared upward at the catwalks, support braces, and colorful

  backdrops of cloth. "That's why it was so important for me to have you

  kids here as 'test consultants." We wanted to get everything right-the

  look, the details, the thrills. Now I don't know how I'm gonna do half

  of this by myself."

  "Can't you find other investors?" Jacen asked. "This place is a great

  idea." Tenel Ka looked at him, and Lowie grumbled a comment.

  Lando nodded sincerely. "Probably, in a pinch-but it won't be the

  same. Half of SkyCenter Galleria was Cojahn's idea." They arrived at

  the top of a vortex tunnel. "This one was my idea, though."

  Bright red-and-white barricades blocked off the dangerous-looking pit

  ... but the barricades looked like props, part of the scenery.

  Stepping closer, Jaina looked down into the ominous shaft, where mist

  and colored lights swirled, increasing the mystery.

  "Come on, it's about time we had a little fun," Lando said. "Follow

  me, everybody."

  He grabbed Jaina's arm and the two of them jumped into the hole.

  Instinctively she cried out. Before she knew it, Jacen and Tenel Ka

  had jumped in after them. Anja fought unsuccessfully when Zekk pushed

  the older girl into the pit, then jumped in with Lowie close behind.

  As Jaina dropped, she could hear the miniaturized transla
ting droid

  scolding as they all dropped down, down...... Oh my! Master Lowbacca,

  are you absolutely certain that this is safe? It may not have been

  tested yet. We could be doomed......

  Jaina clamped her mouth shut and let herself fall, drifting down,

  confident that Lando would never have led them into danger, though she

  realized his stunned grief might have caused him to be more impetuous

  than he normally would have been.

  One by one they dropped. First they descended through a blast of

  supercold mist that froze into frost on the tiny hairs on Jaina's

  arms.

  Next they dropped through a warm, tropical steam. They kept falling,

  swirling, spinning around as cyclonic winds tugged them from level to

  level. Loud rushing sounds roared in their ears as they plunged past

  speakers embedded in the walls, no doubt intended to increase the

  sensation of speed and "danger" in their fall.

  Finally, after they'd passed through a raft of semisolid bubbles that

  slowed their descent, a blasting air cushion rocketed up from below.

  Suddenly buoyant, they drifted gently down to land on a thick pad at

  the bottom.

  With a carefree laugh, Jaina reached up to catch her brother, while the

  big hairy mass of Lowbacca nearly bowled Lando over on the mat.

  They staggered off the padded landing platform into the holding area.

  "Did you kids enjoy that?" Lando said, checking a bank of controls and

  over-rides. All the lights registered green.

  "We loved it," Jaina said.

  :'Can we do it again?" Jacen asked.

  "Dear me, no! Please feel free to enjoy the experience without me next

  time," Em Teedee huffed.

  "It was quite stimulating," Tenel Ka agreed.

  Without a word, Anja smoothed back her hair and adjusted her

  garments.

  She glared daggers at Zekk, but he didn't seem to care.

  "I'd call that a successful test run," Lando said, then sighed.

  "Maybe this will work out after all."

  "I sure hope so," Jaina said.

  As he walked along between utility sheds and piles of supply crates,

  listening to the construction sounds and the movement of materials from

  the Port Town docks and the other levels on Cloud City, Lando placed

  his hands on his hips. He had begun to recover from his shock and now

  replaced it with a grim determination.

  "The SkyCenter construction's on track," he said. "Cojahn took care of

  that much, at least, but I've still got about a thousand administrative

  details to take care of. That was my end of the bargain."

  He heaved a heavy sigh and muttered to himself. "I sure could've used

  your help right now, old buddy. Whatever made you stumble off the edge

  of a city in the clouds?" He shook his head.

  Jaina bit her lip and said out loud what she knew must have been on

  everyone else's minds. "Maybe he didn't. What if he was pushed?"

  Lando looked at her sharply, his big brown eyes narrowing. "I've

  considered that."

  An . a crossed her arms over her chest and let out a snort. "Yeah,

  right," she said. "Always look for something sinister."

  "It makes a whole lot more sense than to think that he jumped o his own

  free will," Lando said, his nostrils flaring.

  "We'll never know unless we investigate," Zekk said.

  Lowie gave a Wookiee grumble, and the little droid translated.

  "Master Lowbacca says there can be no doubt that something very much

  out of the ordinary is going on here. Cloud City does not ...

  smell right."

  Jacen clapped one hand on his sister's shoulder and one on Tenel

  Ka's.

  "And we'll do our best to help you look into it, Lando. We're Jedi

  Knights, after all. This is part of our job."

  "This is a fact," Tenel Ka agreed.

  "Well then, what're we waiting for?" Jaina asked. Lowie took up the

  challenge with a roar.

  Lando looked gratefully at the companions. "You know, kids, one of the

  things I've learned in my life is never to turn down a sincere offer of

  help-especially if the offer comes from a Jedi Knight."

  With a swirl of his colorful cape, Lando Calrissian went off to file a

  formal complaint and request an official investigation into Cojahn's

  death from Cloud City Security. He still had a network of friends and

  political connections from his days as Baron-Administrator.

  Meanwhile, the young Jedi Knights found their way to a high observation

  platform, an open atmospheric patio on the upper ring of Kerros

  Tower.

  Here at the top of the immense metropolis in the sky, they were

  buffeted by winds. The temperatures varied: cool and warm breezes

  swirled as updrafts caught around the structure, carrying snatches of

  vapors from the cloud depths below.

  Off at a distance in the clouds, they could see steaming Tibanna gas

  refineries and drifting storage cylinders. Anja lounged back on a

  chair, propped up one knee, and studiously ignored both the sights and

  the glitz.

  The Tourism Board of Cloud City had issued restrictions and setback

  limitations for the chemical processing and industrial facilities.

  Since rich patrons frequently came from halfway across the galaxy to

  relax and spend their vacations on Bespin, the Board required that all

  smelly and noisy activities remain far enough away so as not to spoil

  the view.

  The sun stole below the far horizon as the planet's rotation carried

  them toward nightfall. Far beneath the patio platform the soup of

  clouds turned pink and orange with the sheen of phosphorescent

  microorganisms.

  Bespin spun so fast on its axis that each day was only twelve standard

  hours long. Jacen estimated that he would need to sleep only every

  other night, and a small part of the day. Visitors to Cloud City found

  that such a schedule kept the place bustling, frantic, and awake at all

  hours.

  Jacen pointed down to the colorful clouds, nudging Tenel Ka beside

  him.

  "Those colors are caused by microspheres of airborne algae," he said.

  "They live on the little droplets of water vapor and other trace

  chemicals that boil up from below. It's like a forest of sky plankton

  down there."

  "Ah. Aha," she said, but made no other comment.

  "I thought you wanted to talk about this supposed foul play in Cojahn's

  death," Anja said. "As if we have any chance of solving it."

  "With such a negative attitude, why even start?" Zekk frowned at

  her.

  "I'm surprised you have so little faith in your own abilities, Anja."

  She scowled back at the dark-haired boy. "It's not my abilities I

  doubt." She turned away and stared off into the clouds.

  Suddenly, light burst from all sides of Cloud City, colorful beacons

  that swirled and played out across the sky. Distant music hummed from

  speakers set into the hover-scaffolding at the edges of the

  metropolis.

  :'What's going on?" Jaina asked.

  'A show, I think," Jacen said. Tenel Ka leaned forward to watch.

  To the sounds of muffled cheers from all up and down the sides of the

  huge levitating city, a group of creatures a
rrowed out of one of the

  broad docking bays with a flutter of wings. The snub-nosed, bullet

  shaped creatures flapped their broad wings like giant fish swimming

  gracefully under thick water. They had no feathers, only gray leathery

  skin, like sails stretched tight over flexible cartilage and a network

  of thin bones. Except for the rushing of air, the beasts made no sound

  in their flight.

  "Hey, those are thrantas!" Jacen cried. He turned to Jaina. "We've

  seen holos of them. Remember some of the images Mom has? Thrantas

  were actually native to Alderaan, but someone brought them here many

  years ago to use as beasts of burden at the gas refineries and for

  constructing the floating cities." He nodded toward the cluster of

  swooping batlike creatures that circled, dove, and flew in formation.

  "Since Alderaan was destroyed, those are probably the last ones in

  existence," Jaina pointed out.

  "Only because Alderaan never made any attempt to defend itself," Anja

  muttered. "Your Luke Skywalker proved that the Death Star wasn't quite

  as unconquerable as the Empire thought."

  The thrantas circled back toward the dazzling lights of Cloud City,