TWENTY-ONE

The Hapan light freighter glided smoothly into the darkness of hyperspace, and the four Jedi settled down for the trip to Gallinore. Although this fact-finding mission was taken at Jaina’s instigation, Kyp Durron had the pilot’s seat.

This puzzled him, for in his observation, it wasn’t in Jaina’s nature to defer. She seemed content enough with the copilot’s chair, and had spent much of the trip so far tossing cheerful comments back over her shoulder to Lowbacca and Tenel Ka. Try though he might, Kyp couldn’t get past the shields just under Jaina’s bright facade—a fact that intrigued him greatly. Few Jedi were his match for sheer force of will, yet this eighteen-year-old girl managed to keep him out.

Since the Force was of little assistance in breaking through Jaina’s shields, Kyp turned to other methods. “You cleared this trip with Colonel Fel, I assume.”

For the first time, he felt a ripple in Jaina’s composure. “I don’t need his permission.”

“Maybe not, but technically speaking, I do.”

“Why?” she retorted. “Since when have you answered to anyone but yourself?”

He sent her a sidelong glance. “Don’t hold back, Jaina. One of these days you’ve got to learn to speak your mind.”

Her response was a derisive sniff. “Jag Fel is an independent scout loosely affiliated with the Chiss. He needs pilots, and you agreed to fly with him. That’s all. Why should you answer to him? You’re a Jedi Master and the leader of an independent squadron.”

“All of whom are dead,” he said flatly.

Jaina fell silent. After a few moments, she said, “You really know how to stop someone in midrant.”

“It’s a learned skill,” he responded. “When you irritate enough people over a sufficient period of time, you become the recipient of many a rant. Every now and then, it comes in handy to be able to shut them off.”

“Is this one of the skills you wanted to teach me?”

Kyp turned in his seat to face the young Jedi. She regarded him steadily, her brown eyes unreadable. “Are you considering my offer? Would you really become my apprentice?”

“Maybe. Is the job still open? Or was it ever?”

He glanced back into the small passenger cabin. Lowbacca was busily tinkering with a small mechanical device, and Tenel Ka seemed deeply engrossed in the information on a large data card. Whatever she was reading made her face appear even more somber than usual. Their other “passenger” was in no condition to listen in, even if he hadn’t been hidden away in the hold like so much baggage.

“When I made the offer, it was mostly to throw you off stride,” he admitted. “You’d heard all the stories about me, and you’ve heard several of my debates with Master Skywalker. You were predisposed to be suspicious of me. It’s much harder to dismiss someone when you’re considering him, even on a subconscious level, as a possible mentor.”

She nodded, not offended by his blunt words. “That’s what I thought. I still don’t appreciate being manipulated like that, but I’ll admit it was a good strategy. When you told me that the unfinished Vong worldship was a superweapon, I sifted your claim through the same filters I’d use for the words of any other Jedi Master. Without that, I might have seen past the smoke to your real purpose.”

For some reason, the admiration in her voice put Kyp on guard. “And knowing this, you could trust me as your Master?”

In response, she glanced toward the hold, where their unwilling passenger was hidden. “I trusted you last night.”

“Yes,” he said dryly. “We still need to have a talk about that little venture.”

“We will,” she responded. “Right now, though, it’s better if you keep a bit of distance from this. My family name and my connection to Rogue Squadron helped you pull off that attack on the Vong shipyards of Sernpidal. No offense, but your name and reputation would not have, shall we say, quite the same impact on my current project.”

This pronouncement surprised a rueful chuckle from Kyp, but it also stung enough to prompt a return shot. “Then why didn’t you take a file from my data banks? Jag Fel’s sterling reputation might have added some gloss to this mysterious enterprise.”

The slightly mocking light in Jaina’s eyes died, but her smile remained in place. “Maybe he’d prefer not to sully that reputation through association with a scruffy ‘Rebel’ mechanic,” she said lightly.

Kyp felt the undercurrent of truth beneath her words, and his own perception of Jaina shifted significantly.

He’d always viewed the oldest Solo child as a Jedi princess—not precisely spoiled, and certainly no stranger to hard work and personal trauma, but the fortunate recipient of a loving family, enormous talent, good training, and a comfortable life. Despite all this, Jaina assumed Baron Fel’s son perceived her to be a faintly disreputable character. The strange thing was, she was probably right.

Even stranger, as far as Kyp was concerned, was his dawning suspicion that Jag Fel was not far wrong. Though Kyp hadn’t considered this before, there might be a good explanation for his inability to pierce Jaina’s mental shields. The dark side was extremely difficult to perceive—as he had reason to know. He and Jaina, despite the differences in their heritages and early lives, might be more alike than he would have thought possible. Most Jedi were willing to risk their lives. He and Jaina were prepared to risk far more.

Jaina leaned toward him and waved one hand in front of his eyes. “Copilot, hailing Kyp Durron. Come in, Rogue Jedi.”

He snapped his attention back to the moment and gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “I wouldn’t concern myself with Colonel Fel’s opinion. He’s an excellent pilot, and he’s doing what he can to fight this war. But as I’ve been saying to anyone who’ll listen and dozens who won’t, the Jedi need to do more.”

“I agree. One thing I learned long ago is that you can’t fix a ship without getting your hands dirty,” Jaina said softly.

For a moment they regarded each other, in complete accord.

A small voice in the back of Kyp’s mind warned him that this was Han Solo’s daughter, reminded him of the enormous debt he owed his old friend, and what he owed to Luke Skywalker. What he had in mind for Jaina would be regarded as yet another betrayal, and there would be no forgiveness for him this time.

Kyp understood full well the dangers of the path he was walking, and he knew that Jaina’s capitulation ought to bother him. But if truth be told, he welcomed her slide from conventional Jedi thought.

Anakin Solo was dead, and gone with him was Kyp’s best hope for a new and more inclusive understanding of the Force. Perhaps Jaina would be the one to have the larger vision. He’d seen the way she automatically took charge, the way other young Jedi followed her confident lead. Maybe she had both the power and the credibility to stir the Jedi out of their complacency.

And if not, at least there would be two Jedi who had the satisfaction of knowing they’d given everything they had, used every resource at their disposal, without stopping to count the personal cost.

In Kyp’s opinion, no true guardian could do any less.

   Gallinore, famous for its rainbow gems, was a verdant world with stunningly diverse plant and animal life. The rainbow gems, living creatures that took thousands of years to mature, were only one of the many marvels to be found in the fields and forests. And many of these living things had been created or altered in the labs of the planet’s sole city.

While Tenel Ka went to deal with the city officials and Kyp kept watch over the “baggage,” Jaina and Lowbacca headed to the sprawling research district.

Ta’a Chume’s letter of introduction earned them full cooperation and unquestioned access to the facility. Within moments, Lowbacca was seated before a terminal, his furry digits flying as he sifted through computerized records of the Gallinore research, looking for anything that might provide a link between a technology that he and Jaina could understand and the secrets of the Trickster, their stolen Yuuzhan Vong ship.

Jaina turned to the technician who hovered at the Wookiee’s shoulder. “I need to speak with Sinsor Khal. Can you show me where I might find him?”

A peculiar expression crossed the young woman’s face, but she pulled out a comlink and relayed Jaina’s request. In moments an armed escort arrived and guided her through a maze of pristine white halls. They left her before a large door, nodded toward a palm reader mounted beside the door, and left at a much faster pace than that which had brought them.

Jaina shrugged, then placed her hand against the device. The door irised open. It snapped shut behind her with a clang like that of a prison door.

She stepped into a large room, one crowded with so much equipment, all of it in such disarray, that for a moment Jaina suspected she was viewing the result of a head-on collision between two large ships.

Jaina crept through the room, surveying it as she might a battlefield. When she knew all she needed, she slipped out the way she came, retraced her steps through the corridors, and made her way back to their ship.

She quickly described the situation to Kyp. He listened intently, his expression inscrutable. His eyes flickered, once, when she concluded her proposal by noting, “You asked me to be your apprentice. Here’s where it starts.”

“So this is your price,” he observed. “You have a high opinion of your value.”

Jaina spread both hands. “I’m the last of the Solos. That’s got to be worth something. Do you want me or not?”

For a long moment the two Jedi locked stares. “You know we could never speak of this,” Kyp said.

“Who would I tell?” she retorted. “Uncle Luke?”

He lowered his head in a slow nod, holding her gaze. “All right, then. Let’s get this done.”

   Two hours later, Jaina stood behind Lowbacca, much as she had when they last parted. The Wookiee shook his head as if to clear it, then began to study the terminal as if he were just getting acquainted with the system. The time he’d spent carefully erasing all evidence of Jaina’s passing was forgotten.

She turned to the technician who stood behind them. “I need to speak with Sinsor Khal. Can you show me where I might find him?”

The woman responded to this request with the same bemused expression that had characterized her first reaction. Thanks to Kyp, she had no recollection of any previous conversation.

She gave orders through a comlink, and several armed guards came to escort Jaina to the scientist’s lair. They set a slower pace than they had the first time, however. Jaina suspected they’d be puzzled by the bruises they’d discover come morning.

Again they left her before the door. For the third time that day, Jaina let herself into the scientist’s lair.

A tall, sandy-bearded man in a red lab coat strode forward to meet her, beaming in welcome. “Lieutenant Solo! The subject is ready. Come along. We’ll get started at once.”

She followed Sinsor Khal through a seemingly random maze of tables and computer consoles to a gleaming expanse of metal, a large table surrounded by a narrow ditch that led into a drain. The captured pirate had already been strapped to the table, facedown.

Jaina fiercely willed herself not to think about the transfer, or what it had cost. As Kyp had observed, this was something of which they could never speak.

“I can’t tell you how delighted I am to finally get my hands on this new biotechnology. Let’s see what we have here.”

He moved quickly to the pirate and picked up a small laser tool. With a deft flick, he removed the coral device and dropped it into a small vial.

“We’ll run tests on the creature itself, and also on the subject. Blood tests, tissue samples, brain waves—you’ll have it all in short order.”

The scientist started work at once, apparently having forgotten her presence. Jaina stood by, watching without protest as Sinsor gathered samples and downloaded the information to his central computer.

“Interesting,” he mused, staring at the screen. “Most interesting.”

Jaina came up behind him. The computer showed several columns of numbers and a moving image that resembled a swarm of Dagobian frog tadpoles within an ovoid enclosure.

“This is a single cell, taken from the adrenal gland. See these small, mobile black dots? They are genetically related to the coral creature.”

“It spawns?”

“In a manner of speaking. Coral reefs are communities of living organisms. The Yuuzhan Vong have refined these communities, organizing them into something that functions as a single creature. Apparently the coral can reproduce, sending microscopic offspring through the bloodstream and into every cell.”

“But how does the implant communicate with these offspring?”

The scientist tapped the screen. The image disappeared, and a stream of symbols flowed. “This is the genetic sequence of the spawn found in the bloodstream. I’ll compare it to spawn taken from other parts of the subject’s body. If my assumptions prove correct, these creatures will be subtly different, depending upon their chosen location—blood, neurons, spleen, and so forth. Yet they are all part of the same organism, even when scattered. And I suspect that as they spread, they incorporate their host into what might be termed a compound organism. Any impulse sent to the central coral unit is communicated throughout the host subject. At this point, where one organism ends and the other picks up is largely a matter of philosophy.”

Jaina nodded slowly as she took this in. “If you wanted to alter one of these implants, how would you go about it?”

“We’ll examine the genetic code of these spawn, and then determine which elements occur naturally, and which appear to be implanted. These new additions or changes provide the most fertile soil for adaptation.”

Jaina grimaced. “And how many years will that take?”

Sinsor looked mildly offended. “You might be surprised how obvious these little splices can be to the trained eye. Our computers are advanced, and much faster than anything the Republic’s so-called scientists have in their arsenal.”

“You think you can alter one of these creatures?”

“I’m confident of it. Come back in the morning, and we should be ready to play around with the next generation.”

Jaina nodded and wove through the crowded workroom to the door. The palm reader on this side did not immediately open the door, but relayed her request to the central control. A metallic voice assured her that her escort would arrive shortly, and she settled down to wait.

It was obvious that Sinsor Khal was under confinement. After having watched him in action, Jaina guessed that his disregard for his subjects’ well-being had gotten him in trouble more than once. On the other hand, this semi-imprisonment also provided a perfect forum for unsanctioned experimentation.

She wondered what the next morning would bring. No doubt there would be some way to impress her will upon the altered creature—and upon any future recipients.

That raised an interesting question: the Yuuzhan Vong’s creatures were not affected by the Force, yet some of them—the lambent crystal in Anakin’s lightsaber, for example—communicated by some sort of mind-to-mind ability, sometimes with individuals who were Forcesensitive. That defied logic, and negated everything Jaina knew about the nature of the Force.

Jaina sensed that she was near to a new understanding—she could feel it, like a shadow perceived only at the corner of her peripheral vision.

She closed her eyes and allowed impressions to come to her. The teeming life of Gallinore swept over her like a silent surf. The bright green music of the forest filled her senses, and answers she could not quite decipher mingled with the rasp of insects and the music of birdsong.

A smile slowly crept over her face. If the answers to her questions were out in the wilds of Gallinore, Jaina knew just the person who was likely to find them.

   The path was a narrow, rocky ledge that clung tightly to the steep slope. Tenel Ka moved confidently up the trail, her muscled limbs coiling and stretching with a grace and joy that reminded Jaina of a bird in flight. Tenel Ka had put aside her Jedi robes for the short, lizard-skin costume she preferred, and her red-gold hair had been tightly plaited into a single thick braid. Her arms swung lightly as she strode along, and from the back her missing forearm was not at all apparent.

The way broadened into a small, flat landing that overlooked a deeply forested valley and the mountains beyond. The Dathomiri woman halted and waited for the other Jedi to catch up. Jaina hauled herself up the last few steps and flopped down onto a large rock.

“Great view,” she told Tenel Ka. “I really needed this.”

Her friend nodded. “As did we all. We spend far too much time in sedentary pursuits. It is difficult to maintain the conditioning level we reached as students.”

Lowbacca struggled up in time to hear this comment, and he yowled a testy disclaimer.

“You can get back to the computer in the morning,” Jaina told him.

Tenel Ka’s searching gaze settled on a nearby mountain, and her eyes lit up. She pointed across the divide toward a rocky slope. “If you look carefully, you can see the opening of a cave. See the colored lights flashing?”

Jaina shielded her eyes with one hand and squinted. “What is that?”

“We call them firedrakes. They are very large flying insects that can emit colored light, as well as heat and sparks of energy. At night, the patterns can be quite impressive and beautiful. It’s nearly sunset. They’ll emerge from their hiding places soon.”

Lowbacca glanced at the setting sun and grumbled.

“I don’t see why we can’t stay,” Jaina argued. “Sure, the path is steep, but it’s the same going down as it was on the way up.”

“I’ve walked this path many times. It is not difficult to follow, and the sight is worth seeing,” Tenel Ka said. “When I was a child, there was some attempt to bring the firedrakes to Hapes, but they do not adapt to other worlds than this.”

Her smile took on a sharp edge. “My grandmother will not brook defiance, not even from nature itself. I remember seeing festival lights, artificial displays that duplicated by mechanical and chemical means the lights of the firedrakes. It was not the same.”

“We’ll stay,” Jaina said, glancing at the Wookiee. Lowbacca grumbled agreement and the three of them settled down to watch.

Night fell swiftly over the mountain, and the firedrakes began to emerge from their caves. Soon a swarm of them gathered, wheeling about in swift, graceful flight. Their multicolored lights traced ribbons against the deepening shadows.

The Jedi watched the display in fascination. A certain wistful contentment crept over Tenel Ka’s face.

“We should return before full dark,” she said reluctantly as she rose to her feet.

They began the trek down the path, glancing from time to time toward the valley and the firedrakes’ continued flight. The creatures had spread out, and their lights came in short, rapid blinks.

“They are hunting,” Tenel Ka explained. “The short flashes seem to be a signal to summon the others.”

Jaina turned to watch. She stumbled over a loose stone, and would have fallen had not Lowbacca seized her arm. He admonished her with a sharp woof.

“I was watching,” she retorted. “But not with the Force, so I guess you’ve got a point …”

Her voice trailed off as she reached out with her senses. Danger was sweeping in.

She reached for her lightsaber and spun back toward the mountain peak. Several enormous creatures glided toward them on silent wings. Jaina got the impression of a dark wind and a stabbing flash of verdant lightning.

Her lightsaber streamed up to meet the attack. She spun to add force to the parry, and the violet blade sheered through the descending bolt.

This changed the momentum of the creature’s attack, and the enormous insect rolled in the air and crashed into the path, tumbling down toward Tenel Ka. The warrior leapt over it, igniting her turquoise lightsaber before touching down.

Instinctively Jaina ducked and slashed out high. An enormous gossamer wing enfolded her like a veil, and the creature that had just lost it slammed into the mountain wall. It bounced off, rolled across the narrow path, and then crashed down the incline. Showers of colored light erupted from it like sparks from a severed wire.

Jaina threw off the wing and dropped into guard position. She reached out with her senses, for there was nothing to see but a tube of faintly strobing light—the “lightning bolt” she’d perceived in the initial attack was nothing but a firedrake’s severed proboscis. The creatures resembled the bloodsucking insects she’d seen in the swamplands of a dozen worlds, but at a size she’d never imagined possible.

Tenel Ka switched off her lightsaber. “Darkness,” she advised. “The lights may draw others.”

The Wookiee padded up and growled at Tenel Ka. “I have never heard of such behavior. They hunt in packs, and are said to be clever.”

“They’d have to be, to plan a distraction,” Jaina said. She glanced out over the valley. The rapid flashing of hunting insects still lit the sky.

Tenel Ka gazed out at the flashing lights. “I never would have thought them capable of ambush.”

Enlightenment came to Jaina in a quick, bright flood, and a plan began to take shape in her mind. Tenel Ka sent her a questioning look.

“I was just thinking about battle tactics,” Jaina said by way of explanation. “Underestimating the enemy is a common mistake. Jedi don’t expect to be outwitted by bugs.”

“Fact,” Tenel Ka agreed ruefully.

And neither do the Yuuzhan Vong expect to be outwitted by “infidels,” Jaina added silently. She would give the Yuuzhan Vong precisely what they expected to see, and then, like the hunting firedrakes, she would come at them from the darkness.