Shadow Academy

by Kevin J. Anderson

  judgment. Don't worry, you'll get that lightsaber eventually. I bet if you

  just relax and stop thinking about it, you'll be practicing with a

  lightsaber before you know it." That said, he helped Lobot finish the

  landing check as the Lady Luck settled down in the empty bay.

  Stepping out of the ship, Lando beamed and showed off his station, making

  enthusiastic gestures. With Lobot trailing silently behind, Lando led the

  three young Jedi Knights to a transparisteel viewing window that looked out

  at the tempestuous orangish soup of the gas giant.

  Jacen pressed close to the broad window, peering down at the knotted storm

  systems that chained through the clouds. From this distance Yavin looked

  deceptively gentle in pastel yellows and whites and oranges. But he knew

  that even in the upper atmosphere, the winds had crushing strength, and the

  pressure farther down was enough to squash a ship down to a fistful of

  atoms. Beside him, Jaina studied the weather patterns analytically. Lowie

  stood between the twins, his lanky form towering over them. He growled with

  amazement.

  "I think it's most impressive," Em Teedee said from the clip on Lowie's

  belt. "And Master Lowbacca thinks so too."

  GemDiver Station orbited just at the fringe of Yavin's outer atmosphere. The

  station's inclined orbit took it high above the planet and then

  dipped down to graze the gaseous levels so that Lando's Corusca gem miners

  could delve into the planet's deep, swirling currents.

  Lando tapped his fingertip against the transparisteel window. "Far down

  where the atmosphere ends, the metallic core scrapes against the liquefied

  air. Pressures are great enough to crush elements together into extremely

  rare quantum crystals called Corusca gems."

  Jacen perked up. "Can we see one?"

  Lando thought for a moment, then nodded. "Sure. We've got a shipment ready

  to go out," he said. "Follow me." With his emerald cape flowing behind him,

  Lando strode down the scrubbed-clean corridors.

  Jacen stared at the metal bulkheads, the chambers, the computer-lined

  offices. The walls were smooth plasteel plates painted in soft colors and

  embroidered with glowing optical tubes in a variety of designs. In the

  background Jacen heard the faint whispering noises of forests, oceans,

  rivers. The soothing colors and gentle sounds made GemDiver Station an

  attractive place, comfortable and pleasant-not at all what he had expected.

  As they approached a set of large armored doors, Lando tapped buttons in his

  wristlink and turned to Lobot. "Request access to security level."

  Lobot mumbled something into a microphone at his collar. The sealed metal

  doors hissed, then slid aside to reveal an airlock chamber, the far side of

  which was an insulated portal providing access to open space. Four armored,

  conical projectiles lay on a rack; each module was only about a meter long

  and bristled with self-targeting lasers.

  "These are the automated cargo pods," Lando said. "Because Corusca gems are

  so valuable, we have to take extra security precautions."

  Several multi-armed droids worked busily beside the first cargo pod, an open

  module padded with thick insulation. The droids' copper exoskeletons

  gleamed, as if newly polished.

  "They're packing up our next shipment. Let's take a look," Lando said.

  The companions peered into the small opening of the cargo pod, where a

  nimble-fingered copper droid had packed four Corusca gems, each no larger

  than Jacen's thumbnail. Lando reached in and plucked out one of the gems.

  The droid flailed its multiple hands in the air.

  "Excuse me, excuse me!" it said. "Please do not touch the gems. Excuse me!"

  "It's all right," Lando said. "It's me, Lando Calrissian."

  The copper droid's flailing ceased abruptly. "Oh! Apologies, sir," it said.

  Lando shook his head. "I've got to get those optical sensors replaced."

  He held the Corusca gem between thumb and forefinger; it glinted like liquid

  fire in his grasp. It did more than just reflect light from the glowpanels

  on the ceiling-the Corusca gem seemed to contain its own miniature furnace,

  its trapped light bouncing around inside the crystalline facets for ages

  until by sheer probability some of the photons found their way out.

  "Corusca gems have been found in no other place in the galaxy," Lando said,

  "only the core of Yavin. Of course, prospectors keep searching other

  gas-giant planets, but for now my mining station is where all Corusca gems

  come from. A long time ago the Empire had a sanctioned station here. It went

  bankrupt pretty quickly without imperial price supports, though. Corusca

  mining is a hazardous job, you know, with a high investment right from the

  start-but it's really paying off for me." He let Jacen, Jaina, and Lowie

  hold the gem and marvel at its beauty. "Corusca gems are the hardest

  substance known," he said. "They can slice through transparisteel like a

  laser goes through Sullustan jam."

  The nervous packing droid plucked the gem from Lowbacca's hairy hand and

  replaced it in the cargo pod, packing extra sealant around the stones before

  it closed the access port. The droid engaged a sequence of controls on the

  back of the cargo pod, and the bristling spines of self-targeting lasers

  raised themselves up to their armed position.

  "Cargo pod ready for launch," the copper droid said. "Please leave the

  launching bay."

  Lando ushered the three kids out of the room, and the heavy metal doors

  sealed behind him as the droids scurried about their tasks. "Over here. We

  can watch through the outer port," he said. "This cargo pod is a hyperspace

  projectile targeted to my broker on Borgo Prime, who distributes the Corusca

  gems for a percentage of the profits."

  They pressed together at a thick round window that looked away from the

  planet out into space. As they watched, the cargo pod shot out of the

  launching bay, then hovered to reorient itself and adjust its coordinates.

  The bright light of its thrusters traced a line across the blackness of

  space. Satellites around GemDiver Station rotated as their sensors tracked

  the pod, aiming their own weapons; but the cargo pod apparently sent the

  proper ID signals, and the defensive satellites left it alone. Then, in a

  blur of motion, the pod streaked forward, flashing into hyperspace with a

  wealth of Corusca gems in its belly.

  "Hey, Lando, can we help you do some of the gem mining?" Jacen asked.

  "Yes, we'd like to see how it's done," Jaina added.

  "I don't know,'' Lando said. "It's tough work, and a little risky."

  "So is training to be a Jedi Knight," Jaina pointed out, "as we've already

  seen. Don't you think learning is worth a bit of risk?"

  Lowbacca growled a comment.

  "What do you mean you're willing to take the risk?" Em Teedee said. "Dear

  me, I believe Master Calrissian was actually emphasizing the hazards in the

  hope that you would not want to go."

  "Well, we'd like to go anyway," Jacen piped up.

  Lando held up a hand, grinning as if he had just thought of something-though

  Jacen could sense that he had been planning it all along. "Well, maybe i
t is

  time I got back to doing some real work around here instead of all this

  management stuff. All right, I'll take you down myself."

  To Jacen, the Submersible Mining Environment looked like a large diving

  bell. Its hull was thickly armored, a dull gray with oily smears of color

  that reflected weirdly in the lights. The hatch appeared thick and durable

  enough to withstand turbolaser fire.

  "This is called the Fast Hand," Lando said, "a little ship we designed

  exclusively for going to the greatest depths of Yavin 4. It's gone almost

  all the way to the core, where we can reach the biggest Corusca stones." He

  ran his fingers over the oily hull plating. "The Fast Hand is covered with a

  fine skin of quantum armor," Lando said, awe apparent in his voice, "a

  little something developed by the Empire. But we turned the military

  applications to our own uses-the ultimate in commercial spinoff technology."

  Lando sounded as if he were giving a speech to a board of directors, and

  then he remembered his audience. "Well, never mind. The armor on this baby

  is strong enough to withstand even the pressures deep in Yavin's core. We'll

  be lowered down, connected to GemDiver Station by an energy tether - like an

  unbreakable magnetic rope."

  "Not even the storms can snap it?" Jaina asked.

  Lando spread his hands wide, dismissing her concern. "We might get jostled

  around a bit, but,'' He laughed. "the seats are padded. We'll be okay"

  Lowbacca stooped, but still banged his head on the low doorway as he climbed

  into the diving bell. Jacen and Jaina jumped in after him. As Lando followed

  them into the Fast Hand, he pulled the hatch shut. He rapped his knuckles

  against the inside wall with a metallic thump. "Safe and sound," he said,

  then settled into the cushioned seat in front of the piloting controls.

  Jacen strapped into the copilot's chair beside him, while Jaina and Lowie

  took the rear seats. Thick, square windows covered the walls and floor,

  giving them a view no matter which way they looked.

  "Oh my, isn't this exciting?" Em Teedee said.

  Lowie grunted in agreement.

  * 3 *

  Lando keyed in some instructions on the control panel. "I'm telling Lobot

  we're ready for departure." Red lights flashed on the bay walls, signaling

  the Fast Hand's status as it prepared for release into Yavin's atmosphere.

  Three technicians trotted out of the room, and the airlock doors sealed

  behind them. "Hang on," Lando said.

  The floor beneath the Fast Hand slid away. Jacen's stomach lurched as the

  armored diving bell fell from GemDiver Station, down into the swirling fury

  of gases. Lowie yelped in sudden astonishment. Jacen's pulse raced. Jaina

  gripped the arms of her seat. The Fast Hand hurtled downward, but soon Jacen

  sensed their descent stabilizing, slowing, becoming more controlled.

  "I can feel the energy tether holding us," Jaina said.

  Jacen reached out with his Jedi senses and detected a shimmering cool thread

  that connected them to the orbiting station high above. Eager and

  interested, he unclasped his crash restraints and looked out the nearest

  windowport as the roiling clouds rushed closer, slamming toward them. Jacen

  saw a fleet of tiny ships like agricultural drones skimming across the tops

  of the rising gases. The small ships hauled a glowing golden web behind

  them, like a faint net dragged through the clouds.

  "What are those?" Jaina asked, curious as always about how things worked.

  "Contractors of mine," Lando said. "Corusca fishermen. They take a fleet of

  skiffs along the cloud tops, trailing an energy seine behind them. As they

  fly through the clouds, the energy differential in the net reacts to the

  presence of tiny Corusca stones. They pick up only smaller stones and

  Corusca dust. It may not seem like much, but it's still quite valuable and

  worth the effort.

  "I help support their operation, and they give me a percentage of their

  catch. But the larger Corusca gems are deeper down. The great pressures near

  the core always made it impossible to mine those big gemstones, but with

  this new quantum armor, we can take the Fast Hand all the way down."

  "Well, what are we waiting for?" Jaina asked.

  "Right. Let's go," Jacen said, rubbing his hands together. Then he flashed

  a mischievous grin. "Hey, Lando, I heard two droids talking the other day.

  The first one said, 'Well, did you beat the Wookiee at sabacc?' and the

  second one said-"

  "-'Yes, but it cost me an arm and a leg,"' Lando finished. "That's an old

  joke, kid."

  Jacen frowned at first, then giggled. "Maybe that's why Tenel Ka didn't

  laugh at it."

  Jaina looked at her brother. "I don't think that's the reason she didn't

  laugh."

  The diving bell continued its descent. Lando plied the controls, unreeling

  the energy tether. As the dense organic mists and colored aerosols folded

  around them, the winds became gentle fingers drumming against the walls,

  growing louder and more insistent. The storm systems increased in fury.

  Bolts of blue lightning shot across the murky sky as far as Jacen could see.

  Static electricity crawled over the outer hull like jagged caterpillars,

  sparking and snapping against the connecting point of the energy tether.

  Lowie uttered a long and concerned-sounding sentence in Wookiee language,

  and his translator droid piped up. "A good question, Master Lowbacca. What

  does happen if the energy tether is severed? How would we get back?"

  "Oh, we've got life-support supplies aboard," Lando said, waving his hand

  again. "We could survive quite a while down here until a rescue mission was

  mounted from GemDiver Station. We have communications and energy backups,

  but it won't happen, don't worry." As if to disagree with him, an unexpected

  gust of wind slapped them sideways so that Jacen tumbled from his seat. He

  pulled himself back up and sheepishly refastened his crash webbing.

  Suddenly the Fast Hand seemed to snap free from its connecting line. They

  dropped like a cannonball, plunging and plunging for a full ten seconds.

  Lowie yowled, and Jacen and Jaina cried out. Lando pumped up the energy

  levels until finally he managed to reconnect the tether.

  "See? No problem," he said with a nonchalant grin, but Jacen could see the

  beads of sweat on Lando's forehead. "You all might want to tighten your

  crash webbing, though," he said. "These storms make for some hefty

  turbulence in the lower atmosphere. That's what stirs up the interface level

  and gives the Corusca gems a nudge. Once we get a little lower, we'll start

  hunting."

  "I'd like to try my hand at it," Jaina said.

  "I'll let you each have a turn at the controls, but I should warn you that

  Corusca gems are very rare, even down here. Don't expect to find anything."

  Jacen asked, "If we're at the controls and we find a Corusca gem, can we

  keep it?"

  Lando smiled indulgently. "Well, I suppose . . .but we can't spend a lot of

  time down here looking for gems."

  "Oh, we won't," Jacen said. "But it's still good to have some incentive."

  Lando laughed. "Just like your father," he said.r />
  Jacen smiled, thinking of all the times Lando Calrissian and Han Solo had

  worked with each other - or in competition against each other, over the

  years of their long friendship. Lando looked at his controls again and

  opened up more window panels on the floor so they could see the murky gases

  beneath them, supercharged with energy. "This is probably good enough,"

  Lando said. "Let's start fishing." He glanced at the chronometer on his

  wrist. "We really need to head back up soon." He swallowed, and Jacen sensed

  just how nervous Lando really was to be down this far. Daredevil gem hunters

  willing to risk their lives for the fabulously expensive Corusca stones

  usually did all the deep dives.

  The Fast Hand had gone so far into the planetary atmosphere that by now the

  winds were dark around them, so dense that even light from Yavin's sun could

  not penetrate. Lando clicked on the diving bell's spotlights, and cones of

  creamy light struggled against the battering storms and whirling gases.

  "I'm going to deploy our trolling cables," Lando said. "They're

  electromagnetic ropes that dangle down to catch flying Corusca gems whipped

  up by the storms. You can each have only a few minutes, because we need to

  get back up to the station. These storm systems are getting worse."

  The storms hadn't seemed to be getting worse at all to Jacen; they had been

  bad enough to begin with. But the tension apparent on Lando's face made

  Jacen want to end their expedition quickly as well.