doesn't sound like she knows where he is either.
"We think Nolaa Tarkona hired more than one bounty hunter to go out and
look for him," Jacen said.
Han nodded. "And Boba Fett's the best bounty hunter there is."
"Maybe the best-until now," Zekk said.
He had been quiet, absorbing information.
Han's eyebrows went up, and he glanced curiously at the dark-haired
teenager.
"What do you mean?" Jaina asked.
Zekk raised his chin. 'I've been to the Jedi academy, and I don't
belong there. I just went back to my home planet, Ennth, and now I'm
sure that's not the place for me either. I need to go in a new
direction."
He glanced past the others, locking his gaze on Jaina's eyes. "So I've
decided to try my hand at being . . . a bounty hunter. I plan to be
the best there ever was."
Jaina bit her lower lip to stifle a gasp.
Zekk's emerald-green eyes looked earnestly into Jaina's. "I know I
can't go back to the way things were, and I can't go back to who I was.
We've talked about this before, Jaina. There's only one direction for
me to go, and that's forward."
'Being a bounty hunter's hard work," Han pointed out. "Dangerous, too.
You don't make a lot of friends."
"I have friends," Zekk said firmly. "I'm not looking to make many new
ones. Besides, I still have some skills in the Force that other bounty
hunters don't have. And I think I'd be good at it.
"That's how I found you here, you know," Zekk went on. "Jaina, remember
when you told me that you were thinking of coming here, to the Alderaan
rubble field? I didn't give it a second thought. But when I was
drifting away from Ennth, trying to figure out where to go, letting the
Force guide me, I got a strange and powerful feeling that you were in
trouble. That's why I came, at the Lightning Rod's top speed. Good
thing, too."
He looked around, shuffling his feet uncomfortably. "Maybe as a bounty
hunter I caneven find what Nolaa Tarkona is lookingfor before anyone
else does-it would serve Boba Fett right for trying to kill MY friends."
Jaina saw a familiar look come over her father's face. Han Solo was
intrigued.
"You know, kid, that's not a half-bad idea. . . . I think you could
be some real help to the New Republic."
Jaina saw a spark of hope lighten Zekk's face at this encouragement, and
she knew that she had lost any chance of persuading him to return with
her to the Jedi academy now. But she had known that already, hadn't
she? She had only friendship to offer him, nothing more.
Jaina sighed. Forward: there was no other direction to go.
She cleared her throat, trying to ignore the painful lump forming there.
"My dad knows a lot about bounty hunters and smugglers, Zekk. He's
learned plenty of tricks over the years. Maybe he could give you a few
tips." She darted a glance at her father to get his approval, and he
gave her a slight nod.
Zekk's brows drew together, and his emerald eyes darkened as if he were
fighting some internal battle. Then, as quickly as it had come, the
inner storm passed, and he stood straight again, his smile bright.
Zekk reached for Jaina's hand and gave it a brief squeeze. "Thanks," he
said. "I'll take you up on that."
----------------IT WAS LATE afternoon when the Rock Dragon and the
Millennium Falcon touched down on the landing field near the Great
Temple. The Hapan ship's engines still sounded weary and uneven as it
descended through the humid atmosphere-but the craft flew passably, and
had made it through hyperspace all the way back to Yavin 4
without a mishap.
Jacen couldn't remember the jungles of Yavin 4 ever looking greener,
more full of life. The distant sun sparkled brightly. He couldn't put
his finger on why, but a flood of excitement and anticipation rushed
Tenel Ka turned to him and quirked an eyebrow as the craft settled to
the ground.
'Yavin 4 does seem beautiful," she said, looking at him with a surprised
expression, tossing red-gold braids away from her face. Jacen wondered
if she had picked up on his emotions.
Jaina powered down the Rock Dragon's engines. 'I know what you mean. I
feel the same. I'm looking forward to getting back to work on the
reconstruction efforts around here-and even to all those tedious Jedi
practice exercises."
Lowie gave a thoughtful rumble. With a whine and a blast of
altitude-control jets, the Millennium Falcon landed beside them.
"Vv'hen I saw the Great Temple from up in the sky, I felt relief," Tenel
Ka continued. "From that altitude I could see no damage-only that the
temple was still there, surrounded by all the jungle.
Strange 'Maybe it's not so strange," Jaina said.
"After seeing what the Death Star did to Alderaan, knowing that there's
no way to repair that kind of destruction, I feel lucky that we all made
it back here in one piece.
Remember, the Death Star almost did the same thing to Yavin 4."
Lowie gave a short woof. "Oh, I agree, Master Lowbacca," Em Teedee
said. 'I have a definite preference for my planets and moons to be in
one piece." Lowie finished the ship's shutdown procedures, and Jaina
flicked the switch that extended the landing ramp. Han Solo and
Chewbacca had already emerged from the Millennium Falcon.
"Look, there's Mom and Anakin,' Jaina said, pointing out the front
viewports, shading her eyes from the bright afternoon sunlight.
Watching his father dash down the ramp of the Falcon and swing Leia into
his arms, Jacen suddenly remembered why he had felt so excited.
Tonight, the entire Solo family would be together to celebrate his
mother's birthday.
Jacen snatched open his crash webbing.
He grinned a challenge at his sister. "Race you!" Before she even had a
chance to say "What are- you waiting for?" he scrambled out of his seat
and headed for the exit.
That evening hundreds of torches flickered in the warm night air,
decorating the Great Temple on Yavin 4. They burned at each corner on
all levels of the pyramid, running in brilliant zigzagged columns up
both sides of the stairways.
Jaina looked down the long wooden tables that had been used for her
mother's birthday feast. The Jedi students and instructors, the New
Republic engineers, and the few dignitaries who had come from Coruscant
were just beginning to disperse, but Han, Luke, the twins, and Anakin
would stay for a smaller, more private celebration, along with the
family's closest friends, Chewbacca, Lowie, and Tenel Ka. Surrounded by
her husband and children, Leia seemed unusually relaxed and contented.
"Happy birthday, Mom," Jaina said.
"I couldn't have asked for any more wonderful gift than to have my whole
family with me," Leia answered. "It's such an unusual occurrence these
days. And your father was very mysterious about this trip you all
took."
Jaina suddenly wondered if she and Jacen had made the wrong choice for
their mot
her's present. Would Leia be disappointed by the gift they had
brought? Would it bring back too many painful memories about her lost
home of Alderaan? What if it only saddened her?
Han put his arm around Leia. "The kids have a presentation to make.
They got you something special." Jaina glanced at Anakin, who quickly
got the message. Her younger brother had always been perceptive. "I'll
go first," he said.
Anakin flicked his ri-inge of straight brown hair away from his eyes and
gently set a wrapped package the size of his fist on the table in front
of his mother.
Leia carefully untied the strings and pulled back the glittering mesh
that covered the gift. "Oh, Anakin. It's beautiful," she said, holding
up a tiny stone replica of the Great Temple, a small ziggurat complete
with the most meticulous details.
"I used the hologram as a pattern. I made this out of broken stone
shards from the temple, pieces crushed too finely to use in the
rebuilding. It's to reraind you of what the temple will look like
again, once weire all finished."
Jaina's throat tightened at the sight of the massive pyramid, intact
again, if only in miniature. She nodded to Jacen, who reached beneath
his seat, pulled out the gift that they had brought, and placed it on
the table with a soft thunk.
Their mother gave them a grateful smile.
"It's heavy-what is it, a rock?" Jaina had prepared a speech to go with
it, but suddenly she found she couldn't remember the words. She watched
silently as her mother unwrapped the brightly colored cloth that held
the shard of Alderaan.
Lowbacca and Tenel Ka both looked on intently, in silence.
Leia studied it, ran her fingers over the metal's sparkling, faceted
surface as if it crackled with electricity. "It's from Alderaan, isn't
it?" she asked in a whisper.
'We wanted you to have a special piece of your home," Jaina said in a
strained voice.
"We know how much Alderaan meant to you, and that the Empire destroyed
itbut in a sense, it's not really gone. We're children of Alderaan,
too, because you passed on what you learned there to us. In a way, the
spirit of Alderaan is very much alive."
"It's from the core of the planet," Jacen added. "From its heart."
Tears filled Leia's eyes. 'Yes, I know it's from the heart," she said.
"From Alderaan's, and from yours, as well. The heart is the one thing
the Empire could never destroy. Those of us who survived-who weren't on
the planet when it was blown up-carry the heart of Alderaan inside us.
And we pass it on to our children."
"And speaking of children of Alderaan," Han said, looking at the twins,
"your mom and Luke and I talked to Raynar this afternoon, let him know
what's been going on with Boba Fett and Nolaa Tarkona and the bounty on
his father's head."
"Han tells me that your friend Zekk offered to help us search for Boman
Thul," Leia said. "That's a brave thing for him to do. He must know
there'll be danger."
"Oh, I'm sure he knows," Jaina said.
"But he's changed. Everything changes, I guess. We just have to work
hard to make the best of all those changes."
Suddenly she felt a pang of guilt over her selfishness. In her
excitement at being reunited with her family, Jaina had completely
forgotten about Raynar. At the moment, the young man had no hope of
seeing his parents or any other relatives. He couldn't even be sure his
father was still alive.
46fr Raynar could really use some good lends right now," Luke said. Her
uncle's tone was mild, but Jaina heard the gentle rebuke in his words.
She resolved to include the other boy more often in their daily
activities. Glancing atjacen, she saw that the same thoughts seemed to
be running through his mind as well.
'This is a fact," Tenel Ka murmured.
Lowbacca gave a thoughtful growl.
Leia raised a cup of juri juice. "To family," she said.
Han lifted his cup to touch hers. 'And to appreciating what we've
got-while we've got it."
"To family," echoed Jacen, Jaina, Anakin, Tenel Ka, and two enthusiastic
Wookiees.
They all raised their cups and drank.
ThE blESTSEttiNq SAQA CONTINUFS . . .
WA@ IEDI KNIGHTS O@l VWA-RLRJ
DIVERSITY ALLIANCE
Everyone is searching for Boman Thul. Not only is he father to one of
Jacen and Jaina's fellow students, he holds the key to a secret
coalition gaining power in the New Republic. The Young Jedi Knights
race across the galaxy to find him-but they may be too late. For their
true enemy is about to show its treacherous face. And it will be
shockingly familiar ...
TURN Thf PACIE FOR A SPECIA[ PREVIEW Of ThE NEXT book iN ThE STAR WARS:
YOUNG JEDI KNIGHTS SERIES: DIVERSITY ALLIANCE COMiNCi iN ApRil fROm
Bou[EVARd Books!
"K-UAR, FIFTH PLANET orbiting a single sun in a star system of the same
name," Tenel Ka said, reading her datapad while sitting in one of the
passenger seats of the Hapan passenger s.iu-l apa) a.: sustaining human
life, but apparently abandoned for some time. . . ."
"Does it say anything about particular cities or structures?" Jaina
asked, craning her neck to look out the Rock Dragon's cockpit
windowport, peering down toward the vast planet below.
"Unfortunately, no," Tenel Ka said, consulting the datapad again.
Lowbacca rumbled a question about the level of technology that might
remain on the planet.
"No data on the technology of Kuar's inhabitants. In fact,' Tenel Ka
said, holding up a finger to forestall the question Jacen was about to
ask, "I have nothing on the inhabitants whatsoever."
Jacen's face fell, then he brightened again. '@at about wildlife?
Interesting animal species, or plants?"
Tenel Ka shook her head grimly. 'I've nothing more that is of any use
to us, only the ramblings of historical scholars speculating about the
original inhabitants, before the Mandalorians swept through.
"Em Teedee, have you additional data about Kuar?" Tenel Ka asked.
"Dear me, Mistress Tenel Ka, I'm afraid to say there's not much, really,
aside from what you said. And the coordinates, of course-oh, here's
something: Kuar's primary climate is semi-and." The little droid made a
sound like an aggrieved sigh. 'I imagine that's not very useful at this
point, is it?"
'We'll be able to speculate all we want for ourselves in a couple of
minutes," Jaina said. "We're almost to the atmosphere.
Okay, hit it, Lowie."
The young Wookiee flicked a few switches, and the ship nosed down toward
the vast sky that provided only a thin blanket over the curved surface
of Kuar.
Jaina flashed a conspiratorial grin at her brother and Tenel Ka. "As I
always say, show me-don't tell me."
Tenel Ka raised an eyebrow and turned to Jacen. "Does she always say
that? I have not heard her."
Jacen merely shrugged. The Rock Dragon dove into the atmosphere.
The surface of Kuar was indeed semiarid. The landscape alternated
between dry du
st and occasional rock formations or sand. It seemed as
if the dust of time had sifted over the entire world. But the
excitement of the adventure had overtaken Jacen, and he was impatient to
know more about the mysterious place below. "Hey, what do the readings
say?" he asked.
"Life forms," Jaina answered succinctly.
"Quite a few, in fact."
Lowie gave a thoughtful purr. "Quite right, Master Lowbacca," Em Teedee
said.
"There's no telling yet whether the life forms are sentient or not."
A few thin clouds hung high in the atmosphere like worn and tattered
lace, but they did little to obstruct Jacen's view.
From this high up, the surface seemed relatively flat and featureless.
"What about buildings?" he asked.
ll,owie studied the readouts again and woofed a few times. "Most
assuredly, Master Lowbacca. Id agree that those aren't natural
formations," Em Teedee said. "I'd hardly call them buildings, however.
The structures are certainly old, but there's something odd about
them-irregular, as if they're only half there."