The weight itself, or the object's size, should not have mattered, he told
himself. Perhaps, he reasoned, he was just too tired. Or perhaps Tamith Kai
was using the Force to hold it down.
"Think, my young Jedi," Tamith Kai chided. "You cannot expect to lift the
heaviest object with your weakest muscles."
Lights flashed again, and a dagger of sound pierced his ears. But only for a
moment.
"Do not keep your anger pent up," Tamith Kai's voice continued as if there
had been no interruption. "You must use it . . . release it. Only then can
you set yourself free."
Lowie recognized what she was doing, and the knowledge gave him strength. He
closed his eyes, drew a deep breath, and concentrated, prepared to resist
the lights and sound. But he was not prepared for what followed. From all
sides, jets of icy water exploded from the walls, buffeting him with
bruising force. He was drenched and shivering, but still the high-pressure
streams pummeled him, invaded him. The prying liquid forced itself up under
his eyelids, inside his ears and mouth, and streamed down his body, chilling
him to the bone.
As unexpectedly as it had begun, the watery attack ended. Shuddering
convulsively from the cold, Lowie looked down to find himself ankle-deep in
water that was barely warmer than glacial runoff. Anger welled up within
him, but he suppressed it, let it flow out of him as the water had streamed
down his body. He tried instead to shift the sonic generator again, but to
no avail.
As if Lowie's effort had triggered it, the sonic generator began a fresh
assault on his senses, strobing the glowpanels and flooding the room with
high-pitched wailing until Lowie feared he would drown in it. Instead, he
concentrated on thoughts of his friends Jacen and Jaina. He would be strong.
When the generator paused, more fists of freezing water pounded him again
from all sides. How long these tortures alternated, Lowie could not say.
After a time, it seemed his life had always been a litany of lights, sound,
water, lights, sound, water . . .And still he did not give in to his anger.
By the time Tamith Kai spoke to him again, he was curled into a tight,
freezing ball of soggy misery, perched directly on the sonic generator in an
effort to bring feeling back to his numb legs and feet.
"You have the power within you to end your ordeal," her voice said with mock
pity. "Alas, young Jedi, fortitude is only admirable when it gains you
something."
Lowie did not raise his head or acknowledge her words.
"You cannot help yourself in this way. You cannot help your friends. Your
friends have already learned the truth of my words," she went on.
Lowie's head snapped up, and he voiced a growl of disbelief.
"Ah, but it is true," she said, a note of encouragement in her voice. "Would
you like to see them?"
Before he could utter a bark of agreement, a pair of holographic images spun
in the air before his eyes. One showed Jacen wielding a lightsaber, a look
of fierce enjoyment lighting his young features. In the other Jaina used the
Force to toss aside heavy objects, her head thrown back with a challenging
grin.
Lowie reached toward the luminescent images with a yelp of stunned
disbelief-and fell face-first into the icy water that covered the floor. He
hauled himself back to his feet, and the sonic generator resumed its
torturous whine. From deep within him, horror mixed with rage and a sense of
betrayal, fanning the embers that had smoldered for so long. Flames of anger
sprang up inside him, warming him with their undeniable heat, rising higher
and higher until they burst from his throat in a howl of fury.
And he knew no more.
Lowie woke to restful darkness back in his own cell. The room was warm, and
he lay on his sleeping platform covered with a soft blanket. His muscles
ached, but he felt well rested. He moved a hand to his waist and found that
next to him.
Lowie was not surprised to find the tall, dark-haired Nightsister standing
beside him. In the dim light of the cell's glowpanels he saw that she held
an irregularly shaped metal object.
"You have done well, young Wookiee," she said.
Lowie gave a sad moan as the memory of what he had done flooded back to him.
"With your anger you succeeded beyond my highest expectations," Tamith Kai
said, looking at him with obvious pride. "As a reward, I've brought you back
your droid."
Lowie's mind faltered with confusion. Should he feel proud of what he had
done? Should he be ashamed? He received Em Teedee from Tamith Kai's hands
with relief and clipped the little droid to its accustomed place at his
belt.
"You will make a fine Jedi," Tamith Kai said.
She smiled conspiratorially. "After you unleashed your anger, we were unable
even to repair the sonic generator, as we have every time before.''
And then she swept out of the room, leaving him to his thoughts. Lowie stood
and groaned as his muscles refused to cooperate, and he slumped back onto
the sleeping platform.
"Well, if you ask my opinion," Em Teedee's thin voice piped up, "you caused
a great deal of your own pain through your needless resistance."
Lowbacca growled a surprised reply.
"Who asked me?" Em Teedee said. "Well, I really don't know why you should be
so upset. After all, you're here at the Shadow Academy to learn.
Why, you're very fortunate that they've taken such an interest in you. The
Imperials are very perceptive, you know. So perceptive, in fact, that they
saw my own potential and
have included
me in their plans. I am most honored."
With an uncomfortable suspicion, Lowie barked a question.
"Wrong with me?" Em Teedee asked. "Why, nothing. Quite the contrary. As an
expression of their complete confidence in me, Brakiss and Tamith Kai have
had my programming enhanced. I feel much better now than I ever have. I am
to be an integral part of your instruction here. You must realize that they
have only your best interests at heart. The Empire is your friend."
Lowie made a thoughtful sound as if accepting Em Teedee's words-and reached
down to switch the little droid off. His head had suddenly become clear. Em
Teedee's words had crystallized something in his mind. He might have given
in, but he had not given up. And if he knew anything about Jacen and Jaina,
the same was true for them-at least that's what he would have to hope.
* 15 *
It was midafternoon by the time Tenel Ka returned. She found Master
Skywalker quietly contemplating in the small slave's quarters Augwynne Djo
had offered him to keep him away from curious eyes during the meeting.
"I've spoken with the Council of Sisters," she said. Waves of afternoon heat
rippled up the cliffside to the for-tress of the Singing Mountain Clan,
giving the air a flat, burnt smell. "They expect visitors to come at dusk.
At that time all of our questions will be answered."
"Then we wait," Master Skywalker said, looking at
her with his intense blue
eyes. "It is one of the most difficult things to do-especially at such an
urgent time, when we don't know what's happened to Jacen or Jaina or
Lowbacca. But if waiting gets us answers where action would not ... then
waiting" - he smiled - "is the action we must choose."
Like a good guest, Tenel Ka busied herself with minor duties to help the
Singing Mountain Clan as the hours crawled slowly by. The sun swung toward
the horizon and dusk. Low clouds in the other-wise clear air burned pink and
orange, scattering leftover rays into the heated atmosphere. Clicking
insects and scuttling lizards began to move about as their world cooled with
evening, adding faint rustling noises to the day's silence.
On the lower tier of cliff dwellings, looking down upon the baked rocky
plain, Tenel Ka and Master Skywalker watched the lengthening shadows cast by
sunset across the desert. Compared with the bright reptilian hides Tenel Ka
wore, Master Skywalker's brown robes seemed drab and nondescript-but she
knew the strength and skill he harbored within himself.
Tenel Ka noticed something dark and large moving across the plain. She
perked up and squinted her gray eyes, studying the creature as it came
closer. Some large beast bearing a rider, no, two riders.
Master Skywalker nodded. "Yes, I see it. A rancor carrying two." Tenel Ka
squinted again, then realized that Luke was enhancing his vision with the
Force, sensing as well as seeing.
Others from the Singing Mountain Clan came to their open adobe windows and
stood on the cliff balconies, gazing down in nervous anticipation.
The rancor plodded forward, slow but unstoppable. Tenel Ka could clearly see
the hulking monstrosity, whose knobby, tan-gray body seemed nothing more
than a vehicle loaded with ferocious fangs and claws. A tall, muscular woman
rode in front; behind her sat a dark-haired young man with thick eyebrows,
wearing a cloak of silver-shot black, just like the woman's.
"She's a Nightsister," said Tenel Ka. "I can feel it."
Master Skywalker nodded. "Yes, but this new breed seems well trained, and
even more dangerous. Something is happening here. I can feel we're on the
right track."
"But - what is that . . . man doing with her?"
Tenel Ka asked. "No ruler on Dathomir would treat a man as her equal."
"Well," Luke said, "perhaps things really have changed."
Below, the Nightsister rider pulled the enormous rancor to a halt. The
clawed, lumpy-headed beast hissed and reared up, dragging its knobby
knuckles across the baked hardpan. The Nightsister dismounted, and her
black-robed companion slid down beside her. They stood between two towering
bronze rocks that thrust up from the sands.
"Hear me, worthy people!" the woman called up the cliffs. Her shout echoed
along the rocks, reflecting her words and making her voice seem louder and
broader. Tenel Ka wondered how dark woman could speak so forcefully she felt
the Nightsister's tug on her imagination even as she stood and listened.
"She's using a Force trick," Master Skywalker said, "pulling on your
emotions, making you interested in what she's about to say"
Tenel Ka nodded. A cool breeze stirred up by the rapidly changing
temperatures of evening whipped her red-gold hair about her face.
"Once again, we come to seek others interested in what we have to offer.
Yes, we know that long ago evil Nightsisters ruled Dathomir with an iron
hand and a cruel will. They were bad people-but that doesn't mean their
training was completely wrong, that everything they knew about power is to
be despised.
"I am Vonnda Ra, and this is my companion Vilas. Yes-a male. I can sense you
are shocked and surprised, but you should not be. From other allies, we have
learned that this power we call . . .the Force dwells in all things, male
and female. Not only can the
Sisters use it for their own benefit, but males - Brothers - can also wield
such strength."
Many of the people in the cliff dwellings stirred.
"I sense your disbelief," Vonnda Ra said, "but I assure you it is true."
Tenel Ka whispered to Master Skywalker. "I have seen many things in the last
few years," she said, "and I believe I know how other societies work - but I
hear that some of the more conservative clans on Dathomir are not quite
ready to accept such measures of equality."
Master Skywalker nodded, but pursed his lips gravely. "There's nothing in
Jedi teachings that favors either male or female - or even human, for that
matter. Your people have only been deceiving themselves."
Far below, Vonnda Ra stood beside her tamed rancor and shouted up. "Vilas,
my best male student, will demonstrate for you one small thing he has
learned, something that will amaze you."
Dark-haired Vilas removed his spangled black cloak and draped it on the
patched whuffa-hide saddle across the rancor's back. He began to
concentrate, standing off to himself in the flat, baked dirt between the
stone columns, his arms at his side, hands clenched into fists.
Even from this far up the cliff, Tenel Ka could hear Vilas humming. Beneath
their bushy brows, his eyes were squeezed shut. His black hair began to
rise, flickering with static electricity. He rippled with a growing power.
Up in the purple sky, stars had just begun to shine through, bright white
lights against the darkening backdrop of the almost-faded sunset. Clouds
started to gather, faint wisps at first, like corded shadows across the sky
that knotted and drew together. Tenel Ka stood back as the breeze picked up
and became colder.
"We are always searching for new trainees," Vonnda Ra shouted up to the
gathered crowd. The Singing Mountain people clustered forward to
their windows and balconies. "If any of you would like to learn the ways of
the Force, to do what Vilas and I can do-whether you be male or female,
noble-born or slave, come join us. Our settlement is at the bottom of the
Great Canyon , only three days journey from here by foot.
"We cannot guarantee that we will choose you, but we will test your
abilities. Any we find with the right kind of talent, we will adopt as our
own. We will teach you to be an important part in the machine of the
universe. Your future can be bright, if you are with us."
As Vonnda Ra finished, an ear-shattering peal of thunder drowned out her
last words. Violent blue lightning danced in great forks that skittered
across the sky. Vilas had climbed one of the bronze rock pinnacles,
scrambling up, light-footed, as if someone were drawing him up on cables.
Now he stood on the flat weathered rock, arms raised. Static electricity
swirled like a whirlpool around him as the gathering thunderstorm coalesced
at his bidding. More lightning flickered around the desert-scape, striking
solitary boulders on the flat plain and sending up showers of dust and
sparks. The storm thickened, slashing at them with cold wind. Tenel Ka
blinked back stinging tears as her hair thrashed around her.
Vilas stood atop his pinnacle of rock, commanding the storm. The clouds
thickened, turning th
e sky black. Tenel Ka looked down the cliff face and
saw that beside the lone rancor, Vonnda Ra also held her hands outstretched,
palms up, fingers spread, calling the storm. Lightning came down across the
desert. The rancor snorted and reared, but did not run.
"Come to the Great Canyon ," Vonnda Ra shouted above the screaming
wind. "If you want to touch power such as this, come to the Great
Canyon ."
Vilas sprang down from the stone pinnacle and landed with ease on the
windswept desert sands next to the rearing rancor. He and Vonnda Ra
scrambled onto the patched saddle. Vonnda Ra grabbed the creature's reins
and yanked it about. The clawed monster loped off into the distance as the
storm continued to rage around the cliffs.
Tenel Ka stared after, trying to keep her eyes on the dwindling silhouette
of the monster and its two riders. "So now we know,'' she said. "What shall
we do?"
Luke put his hand on her shoulder, and she could sense his confidence. "We
go to this Great Canyon and offer ourselves as candidates," he said.
"They are looking for new people to train. And now we're sure were on the
right track. Jacen, Jaina, and Lowbacca might be there already."
Tenel Ka bit her lip and nodded. "This is a fact."
* 16 *
* *
Jaina left the lightsaber switched off and pushed it back toward Brakiss,