Czethros strode down, square-shouldered and proud, as if there had never been any question of ownership in his mind. “Excellent job,” he said. “Kessel will become my new base of operations. From here we will coordinate our lightning strikes—multiple covert attacks just like this one, only on a much larger scale. I’m glad our plan here operated so efficiently. A good sign.”
He smiled, and his mercenaries beamed at the praise. Jaina knew that Czethros was not a man to give compliments easily.
“In a similar manner, all of our infiltrators in key positions in important systems will be able to strike as soon as we transmit the signal for our coordinated takeovers. The attacks will be simultaneous. Within days we will bring the New Republic to its knees. Black Sun will prevail!”
He raised a fist in the air, and the other mercenaries shouted in unison, “Black Sun!”
“Dear me! Whatever are we going to do?” Em Teedee said as Jaina and Lowie backed deeper into the shadows of the tunnel.
“Well, there’s one good thing about all of this so far,” Jaina said, her face grim and determined. “We’re Jedi Knights—and Czethros doesn’t know that we’re here.”
10
Piloted by Cilghal, the waveskimmer roared across the choppy seas toward the polar oceans of Mon Calamari. The sky was steely gray, the water cold. Mountainous icebergs floated in the distance like broken white teeth jutting up from the surface of the waves. The air felt so frigid that it seemed it might break if they tore through it too quickly.
“There, those sparkling colors,” Jacen said, pointing. “Is that Crystal Reef?”
Cilghal nodded. “Crystal Reef is one of the most popular casino-resorts on all of Mon Calamari.”
Protruding from the waves and surrounded by an archipelago of icebergs was an artificial island, a glittering mound of lights and metal that drifted about on the frigid currents. The Crystal Reef casino-resort was incredibly exclusive, isolated, a place for the wealthiest members of any species to go and have fun.
Zekk shivered, even wrapped in his warm cloak. “Why would anyone want to come up here? It’s too cold to relax.”
Tenel Ka, clad only in her lizard-hide armor, seemed unaffected by the drop in temperature or the brisk salty spray that feathered up from the racing waveskimmer.
“Wait until you see Crystal Reef from the inside,” Cilghal said, her voice soft, the words rich. “If I weren’t an ambassador to my people, we would have had to wait a month simply to get docking privileges. I … pulled a great many strings.”
“Then how did Anja Gallandro manage to get here?” Tenel Ka said.
Jacen raised his eyebrows and looked over at her. “You should know by now not to underestimate Anja when she’s determined to do something.”
Cilghal brought the waveskimmer into a crowded VIP docking area that looked like a series of metal-ceilinged caverns at the floating island’s water level. Expertly, she wove her way between other bobbing vessels—many of them jewel-spangled or gaudily painted—and nudged the skimmer into place. Jacen, Tenel Ka, and Zekk scrambled out onto the well-lighted dock, while the Calamarian ambassador filled out the proper forms and punched in her access codes.
Jacen gazed upward, lifting his chin so he could see the pearly metallic ceiling, the curved girders that supported the casino-resort’s organic, flow-form architecture. The style reminded him of the strange coral reef design he’d seen the Mon Calamarians use in the designs of their world’s impressive star cruisers.
A surprising variety of beings bustled about, many of them obviously tourists, others uniformed employees of the Crystal Reef resort. Jacen noticed Mon Calamarians, tentacled Quarren, Bith musicians, walrus-faced Aqualish, horned Devaronians, and ten other races of sentient creatures he could identify, as well as two dozen more he could not.
Layered musical tones filled the air like scents, ranging from rumbling subsonic pulses, through music discernible by human ears, up into high-pitched frequencies that he could detect only as a faint vibration in his teeth.
“Crystal Reef is a large place in which to find a single person,” Tenel Ka said.
Cilghal spoke in her soothing voice. “Fortunately, the resort has no choice but to allow me access to its records.”
“Then we should be able to track Anja through the resort’s own computer systems,” Zekk said, in a determined tone. “She doesn’t seem to be trying as hard to cover her tracks here. We’ll find her—and the Lightning Rod, I hope. I miss my ship.”
Jacen continued to defend her. “I don’t think she’s necessarily been hiding from us. Anja obviously needs to do something quickly, and is trying to do it before anyone gets in the way.”
“She still stole my ship…,” Zekk grumbled. “And she might have guessed we’d come after her.”
“We’ll ask her when we find her,” Cilghal said and led them up into the main levels of the resort. After consulting some maps on the walls, the Mon Calamarian ambassador asked for guidance from uniformed attendants. Even she had not been to this place before. The courteous and helpful attendants answered every question.
On different levels in the floating city, temperatures and atmospheric compositions varied from cold and clammy to hot and dry environments. In some, Jacen could smell acrid sulfurous gases; in others the air seemed so fresh and pristine he wanted to take huge gulps of it and wished he could save some for later.
The support columns in the vaulted rooms were hollow water-filled cylinders made of transparisteel. Seaweeds, water flowers, and brightly colored fishes drifted from level to level through the connecting tubes.
Finally, after ascending several ramps and sliding stairs, they reached the upper decks of Crystal Reef, high above the glittering, ice-choked water. Out in the frigid air, Jacen watched cold puffs of fog rise up in front of his face each time he exhaled. Chattering Bothans played a game by sliding colorful tiles across a frost-slick surface.
Steaming hot tubs bubbled at the center of the deck, their warm vapors rising a few meters before condensing into icicles on the deck railings and nearby furniture. Inside the tubs lizardlike aliens basked in the incredible liquid heat. Jacen could feel the increased temperature hovering over them like a steamy atmosphere dome.
Meanwhile, Dralls frolicked in the water of the polar ocean below, their dark, short fur protecting them from the freezing temperatures. He watched them splash and play, having the time of their lives in the icy waves.
“Do you think Anja would be on one of the casino decks?” Zekk asked.
Tenel Ka frowned. “We can rule out no possibility.”
Jacen shook his head. He looked behind him at the tall white towers glistening like spikes above the floating city. All legal forms of gambling were practiced on Crystal Reef—from races to simple games to major sabacc tournaments. Jacen wanted none of that, and he had to believe that Anja Gallandro didn’t either.
“I doubt gambling has anything to do with why Anja came here. If she wanted to gamble, she could have done plenty on Cloud City—but she didn’t show any interest then. No, she came to Mon Calamari for some other reason after leaving Kessel. Maybe she was looking for someone she knows. In any case, we’ll just have to find out what she really had in mind.”
“You forget, Jacen, my friend,” Tenel Ka said, “if she is connected with Black Sun, they would wish to control all the gambling here. Therefore, her contacts may be on the gambling levels. This is a fact.”
Jacen had to concede the point, but it still didn’t sound right to him.
Finally, Cilghal found an information kiosk studded with computers and keyboards fitted for various types of tentacles, claws, and manipulative digits. She spoke quickly but politely to the data-hunter at the kiosk, a small-boned creature with ten articulated arms. Cilghal gave her diplomatic credentials and described the person they were seeking.