Under A Black Sun Trilogy

by Kevin J. Anderson

  requests that you remain alert to any signs of illegal activity,

  danger, or deceit." Tenel Ka gave a curt nod, and her warrior braids

  swayed around her shoulders. From the corner of his eye, Jacen saw

  Zekk's hand go to the hilt of his newly constructed lightsaber.

  Jacen nodded, acknowledging the gravity of the situation. "Sure, we

  can do that."

  Their search for any sign of the Lightning Rod in Kessel's haphazard

  docking records was apparently fruitless. Lowie, Em Teedee, and Jaina

  had chased through even the most elusive of electronic notations,

  looking for aliases, last-minute substitutions on standard cargo runs,

  even any vessel that might have requested sight-seeing privileges.

  Anja and the Lightning Rod were nowhere to be found. Either she had

  failed to identify her ship, or she had never come there at all.

  Meanwhile, Zekk pored over a hard-copy diagram of all usable docking

  facilities on the planet, both authorized and unauthorized. Tenel Ka,

  with Jacen beside her, studied a listing of docking authorizations in

  the past week. Many of the ships were unnamed or only partially

  listed.

  Jacen was about to ask just what kind of clue she expected to find when

  the warrior girl nodded with satisfaction. "Ah."

  "Aha?" Jacen asked, not knowing exactly what she had found.

  Zekk hurried over from the computer console. "The Lightning Rod?

  Or at least a lead we can follow?"

  "No, but something unusual, nonetheless. A ship we have encountered

  before, on our way to Anja's world of Anobis."

  Zekk squinted down at the shimmering electronic page. "The Rude

  Awakening?"

  Jaina looked up from her computer console and scratched her head.

  "Sounds familiar but I can't place it."

  "Hey, wasn't that the name of the ship we bumped into not far from Ord

  Mantell, that gunrunner?" Jacen said.

  Jaina frowned. "You mean Lilmit? But what would a gunrunneror even an

  ex-gunrunner-be doing here on Kessel?"

  With a thoughtful growl, Lowie began punching commands into the

  computer console. A moment later he gave a suspicious woof.

  "Yes, indeed, Master Lowbacca. Very odd!" Em Teedee agreed.

  "It seems that our smuggling friend has a valid authorization to pick

  up a shipment here on Kessel." Lowie added something with a sharp

  bark. "Why, yes. Given the circumstances, I daresay he should have

  docked in one of the standard commercial loading bays."

  "But he's not," Jaina observed. "According to this code list, Lilmit's

  authorization came directly through Nien Nunb's late Second

  Administrator."

  "So where is he docked then?" Zekk asked impatiently.

  Jaina stood, leaned over Zekk's sheet of docking diagrams, and

  pointed.

  "A cargo bay way over here, near all the new andris-mining and

  processing operations. Perfectly legal, of course. Just ... really

  out of the way."

  "Sounds suspicious to me," Jacen admitted. "I don't think Anja

  actually knows this guy, but it seems like an awfully big coincidence

  that he just happened to be in the Anobis system when we were there,

  and now he just happens to be on Kessel."

  Tenel Ka nodded. "Perhaps Nien Nunb's conspiracy theory has a more

  solid foundation than we realized."

  "Hey, either way," Jacen said, "I'd say it's about time we paid our old

  smuggler friend Lilmit a visit."

  Without saying a word as he came up from behind, Jacen put a hand on

  Lilmit's slumped shoulder. The onetime weapons smuggler, his head and

  neck buried in the engine compartment of the Rude Awakening, gave a

  start and banged his head.

  "Anything we can help you with, Lilmit?" Jaina asked sweetly.

  "What do you mean, sneaking up on a guy like that?" Lilmit muttered,

  backing up to extricate himself from the opening in the access panel.

  Lowie gave a warning rumble. Lilmit whirled at the sound, stumbled

  backward a step, and hit his head again, this time on the outside of

  the engine compartment.

  "No, no, it can't be!" the hapless man said, staring around at the

  semicircle of faces he had not seen since his disastrous weapons

  smuggling assignment to Anobis. "Not you, too! I'm ruined. Why can't

  everyone just leave me alone?" Lilntit squeezed his eyes shut.

  "Please let me go. I was just about to leave."

  Exchanging amused glances, Jaina and Lowie popped their heads inside

  the engine compartment to take a look. Jaina withdrew again and gave

  Lilmit a skeptical look. "From the looks of your engines, I don't

  think you're going anywhere soon."

  Lowie's roar echoed inside the engine compartment. "Master Lowbacca

  confirms this diagnosis," Em Teedee translated.

  Jaina placed her hands on her hips. "Even if Kessel does have all the

  replacement parts you need, it'll take a pair of skilled mechanics two

  days to get this mess fixed."

  Lilmit blanched. "Days? I don't have days. I don't even have any

  credits. I need to leave before Kessel is-" He clamped his mouth

  shut.

  His eyes darted from side to side as he fluttered his hands, spreading

  his webbed fingers. "I, uh, have to leave today. Is there any way I

  might persuade you to help me?"

  "Why?" Jacen asked sourly. "So you can deliver some more weapons to

  desperate people in war zones?"

  The former arms smuggler drew himself up haughtily. "I'm not in that

  line of business anymore." He blinked rapidly. "I- I'm completely

  legitimate now."

  Tenel Ka raised an eyebrow. "Transporting spice, perhaps?"

  Lilmit looked defensive. His nostrils flared. "Yes, a small,

  authorized shipment. And it's ... urgently needed."

  :'Ah," Jacen said.

  'Aha," Tenel Ka finished, nodding gravely.

  'So you see," Lilmit said defensively, "you mustn't interfere with my

  business anymore. I'm on an errand of ... mercy."

  "Actually, we're not here to interfere with you at all," Zekk said,

  stepping forward a bit. "We're looking for some information about a

  friend of ours. You see, our friend ... borrowed my ship, the

  Lightning Rod." Jacen could sense Zekk's struggle to come up with an

  explanation that would not involve lying. His emerald-green eyes

  clouded for a moment, then cleared. "We had planned to rendezvous at

  the first stop, but our friend obviously got here first and didn't

  wait."

  The story was true, Jacen thought admiringly. The young Jedi had hoped

  to meet Anja here. Anja herself had not known this, though, and so of

  course had not waited for them.

  I 11 don't know. I haven't seen her," Lilmit protested. "Or that hunk

  of junk she was flying."

  Her, Jacen thought, and that hunk of junk. So Anja and the Lightning

  Rod had been here. It was fortunate for the young Jedi Knights that

  Lilmit was such a poor liar. The fellow was obviously desperate to get

  away. There was no doubt left in Jacen's mind now that the former

  gunrunner had not only seen Anja, but had spoken to her as well. He

  could sense it strongly through the Force.

  Jacen moved closer to Lilmit and spoke in a confid
ential tone.

  "Look, we already know Anja was here in the Lightning Rod." He had

  only known this for a few seconds, but Lilmit didn't need to be told

  that. "She desperately needs our help with something she's trying to

  do," he continued in a low voice. At least, Jacen thought Anja was

  trying to give up using spice. From everything Lando had told them and

  from what Jacen had seen so far, Anja would need her friends' help to

  get through this.

  "We were sent here to help her," Jaina added in a persuasive tone.

  She sighed with feigned resignation. "But if you don't know anything,

  you don't. It's a shame, too. The Chief Administrator of this

  facility owes us a favor and probably would have been more than happy

  to give us a few rather hard-to-find engine parts that you could have

  used to fix your ship."

  Jacen shrugged, turning to go. "Well, good luck anyway, Lilmit.

  I'm sure you'll understand we're in kind of a hurry." He took a stab

  in the dark. "We'll just have to hope we link up with her at the next

  rendezvous before it's too late."

  Lilmit swallowed convulsively but did not speak.

  "You do understand, do you not, that we were sent to assist Anja

  Gallandro with the spice?" Tenel Ka said, leaning close to Lilmit, a

  meaningful look in her cool gray eyes.

  Lilmit's eyes went wide as comprehension dawned. Jacen was pretty sure

  Lilmit didn't know they'd been sent by Master Skywalker, and therefore

  he had no idea what sense Lilmit might have made out of Tenel Ka's

  cryptic comment, but he was aware that the warrior girl had an

  intricate understanding of deceptions, plots, and conspiracies.

  Somehow, Jacen thought in admiration, she had known just what to say.

  Jaina added a last little push. "Well, there's no time to lose. We

  may as well get going and just hope we can rendezvous with her at Ord

  Mantell. . .

  Jacen saw no answering flicker of confirmation in Lilmit's eyes.

  -"Or," Jaina went on, "Coruscant ... ?"

  "No!" Lilmit practically yelped. "Calamari! She's gone to Mon

  Calamari." He lowered his voice to a whisper. "The Coruscant

  assignment is mine."

  Jacen tried to clear his mind. They were getting answers, but he had

  no idea what they were talking about! He hoped someone knew.

  Lilmit seemed to warm up to them now. "I was testing you, of course.

  For Anja. You can never be too sure about these things," he said,

  nodding several times. "Especially since you interfered with my

  shipment to Anobis. I got into a lot of trouble for that."

  "We had our reasons," Zekk broke in, "but we'd like to make it up to

  you now."

  Lilmit smiled. "You're sure you can get me the engine parts I need?"

  Of course-nothing simpler," Jaina assured him smoothly.

  Lowie rumbled a curt suggestion. "Master Lowbacca advises you to talk

  first," Em Teedee translated. "Then we will see to getting your

  parts." I "But you'll have to do the engine work yourself," Jaina

  warned.

  "We've got our own mission."

  Lilmit nodded. "Fair enough. Just as long as I get off of this rock

  ...

  in time."

  As a Jedi, Jaina felt bound by her promises, no matter whom she made

  them to, and so once they got back to Chief Administrator's cozy

  underground office, the first order of business was to make sure Lilmit

  got the promised engine parts. Once that was taken care of, Nien Nunb

  listened carefully to their description of the encounter with the

  former gunrunner.

  The Sullustan touched a finger to his layered lips and murmured

  thoughtfully. Em Teedee was proud to offer an immediate translation.

  "Master Nien Nunb believes that Lilmit's urgent desire to leave Kessel

  before some mysterious deadline indicates that some conspiracy is

  indeed afoot."

  "Does seem to kind of support your theory that something's going on,

  Nien Nunb," Jaina agreed. "But we have no idea what. Lilmit's anxiety

  could be something perfectly simple."

  "Or perhaps not," Tenel Ka said ominously. "We must be prepared. "

  Lowie roared, and the little droid responded rather than translating.

  "Oh, indeed, Master Lowbacca, we mustn't leave Master Nien Nunb

  unprotected here in the spice mines. He can trust us, of course, but

  otherwise he has no idea who his friends or his enemies might be."

  "All right. So we'll have to leave someone here while the rest of us

  go look for our friend," Jaina said. "Zekk?"

  He gave a vigorous shake of his head. "Anja has the Lightning Rod.

  I'm not going to stay here while the rest of you go after her."

  Jaina frowned but had to admit the logic of this. She knew better than

  to get between a being and his ship. "Jacen, how about you?"

  Her brother gave her an "Oh, come on!" type of look. "Jaina, if

  Anja trusts anybody, it's me. I can't leave her out there to face her

  problems all alone."

  Jaina's heart sank. She couldn't really ask Tenel Ka to stay here and

  let Zekk and Jacen go flying off in her ship, the Rock Dragon. She

  turned toward her last hope. "Lowie?" she said in a weak voice.

  Lowie slapped a ginger-furred hand on her back and rumbled something

  consoling.

  "An excellent idea, Mistress Jaina," Em Teedee said. "Master Lowbacca

  and I should be delighted to stay here with you and er, urn... protect

  the interests of Master Nien Nunb."

  Jaina gave an unconvincing smile. "Right." She hadn't really wanted

  to stay here herself, but she couldn't argue the matter now.

  Zekk put an arm around her shoulder, leaned close, and whispered,

  "Thanks for understanding."

  Jaina snorted. Zekk kissed her playfully on the cheek and said, "By

  the way, is it my turn to rescue you this time, or the other way

  around?"

  Jaina pretended to glare at him until he kissed her on the other

  cheek.

  He grinned. "Don't worry. If you need me, I'll be back."

  Jaina slid both anus around his waist to hug him tightly. She pressed

  her cheek against Zekk's, whispered, "May the Force be with you," and

  then let go.

  With Zekk as pilot, Jacen as copilot, and Tenel Ka as navigator, the

  trio set off for Mon Calamari in the Rock Dragon. Jacen was interested

  to see that Zekk looked much more relaxed when he was piloting a

  starship. He could sense that his dark-haired friend used the Force

  unconsciously to help him maneuver, judge distances, and react to small

  emergencies.

  Jacen's spirits were rising too, not only because he enjoyed doing

  something useful during a flight, but also because Tenel Ka was there

  working beside him. And because they had found a solid lead as to

  Anja's whereabouts.

  "Jacen, my friend, did you not say you knew someone who could assist us

  on Mon Calamari?" Tenel Ka said once they were well under way.

  "Right. Her name is Ambassador Cilghal. Guess I ought to send her a

  message to see if she's there right now and if she has time to work

  with us."

  "Cilghal?" Zekk said. "Didn't she used to be a student of Master

  Skywalker's, back in the early day
s of the academy?"

  Tenel Ka looked interested. "She is a Jedi and an Ambassador?"

  "Yeah. A Jedi healer and an Ambassador. The only one that I've heard

  of, so far," Jacen said. "But Cilghal is so quiet and gentle, you'd

  never know she has all that power." For the next few minutes he busied

  himself sending a communiqud that explained their current mission and

  requested Cilghal's help. Moments after the Rock Dragon dropped out of

  hyperspace into the Calamari system, they received the Ambassador's

  answer.

  According to the message, it would be Ambassador Cilghal's greatest

  pleasure to assist them, and she had already begun making inquiries

  about recent arrivals on the planet to track down the Lightning Rod.

  She had also set up the appropriate clearances and approvals for the

  Rock Dragon to have a berth in the V.I.P docking section near her

  offices on Foamwander City for as many days as the young Jedi Knights

  might need it.

  Tenel Ka looked impressed. "It would seem that Ambassador Cilghal is

  most efficient."

  A lopsided grin brightened Jacen's face. "Yeah, she thinks of