“Really, old man?” Norys’s lips pulled back in something between a snarl and a grin. He turned back toward the targets and, moving his blaster rifle in a slow semicircle, flooded the area with blaster bolts, never removing his finger from the firing stud. When he was finished, every target had registered a hit. A
complete slaughter. Norys turned back toward Qorl with a satisfied smirk. “How much more target practice do I need, old man?”
“Enough practice so you don’t destroy our own troops during a raid,” Qorl replied.
Norys shrugged. “We all make a few sacrifices to meet our goals.” He glanced back at the targets. “Seems like a fair trade-off to me.” He tossed the spent blaster rifle at Qorl, who caught it with his good arm.
Trouble, Qorl thought, definitely trouble.
10
Stars burned in the midnight sky like a billion white-hot embers on a slab of black marble. Jacen, Jaina, and Tenel Ka had long since retired to their beds—but Lowie couldn’t sleep. Perched comfortably on the wide railing of the upper verandah, with the simmering night sounds of the forest all around him, he kept a watchful eye on his sister’s window.
Sirra still insisted she wanted to imitate Lowie’s feat with the syren plant, and he could not talk her out of it. Now he feared she would leave him behind at the last moment, go alone on her dangerous quest—as Raaba had done. So far, though, he had seen no sign that his sister was planning anything so foolish.
Because of increased production quotas for the New Republic’s military requirements, their parents had both volunteered to work the night shift at the computer fabrication facility. Kallabow and Mahraccor had spent their lives at their jobs, contented if somewhat unchallenged, and seemed baffled that neither of their children wanted to follow in their footsteps.
But Sirra demanded constant challenges, and went out of her way to create some when life didn’t provide her with enough of them.
The light in Sirra’s room shimmered like a warm fire behind the window’s leafy shade. Small glowing mesh cages rested outside her window and on various platforms throughout the Wookiee residential district—containers filled with a sweet-smelling substance that proved an irresistible attractant to a species of tiny glowing gnats called phosfleas. When the cages were placed outside, clusters of the harmless phosphorescent insects swarmed around them to provide a natural, pollution-free light source.
Sitting alone outside under the starlight, Lowie had watched Sirra’s shadowy figure moving about in her room, pacing as if agitated, but he had seen no sign of her for some time now. Perhaps his sister was trying to sleep, he thought.
But though vague foreboding crackled like static through his mind, he liked being alone in the restful darkness, high above the ground, where he could think. It felt good to be home on Kashyyyk. He drew in a lungful of the wood-scented air and practiced a Jedi relaxation technique, slowly willing his tense muscles to unknot—
—only to jump a meter into the air as a set of cold claws pricked his back. Lowie stumbled to his feet and spun toward the railing, his defensive Wookiee instincts coming into play.
Sirra, shaking with silent laughter, hauled herself up over the railing onto the verandah and resheathed her claws, complimenting him on his reflexes. At least, she said, he had convinced her that he might be of some help during her quest. Lowie groaned, trying to quell the surge of adrenaline. He asked her if the surprise had been designed strictly to test him.
Sirra’s voice grew more serious, and she lowered her head. She had wanted to demonstrate that she could slip off alone, if she wanted, and Lowie wouldn’t have been able to stop her. Sirra turned her head up so that the starlight gleamed on the pattern-shaved tufts of her fur. Then she looked at her brother and promised that she wouldn’t go without him.
Lowie reseated himself on the railing and gazed up at the stars. He grumbled about the unexpected ways she made her points.
Sirra purred, thanking him for the odd compliment, making herself comfortable beside him.
Lowie grunted, not sure he had intended his remark as praise, but the fact that Sirra was pleased by the comment spoke volumes. She enjoyed being different, just as her friend Raaba had….
As if sensing the direction of his thoughts, Sirra began talking about Raaba, how the sleek, dark Wookiee had loved the stars. Even when they were small, the two young females used to sneak out at night and watch the skies for hours.
Lowie’s shoulders slumped. Raaba should not have died. She had taken a foolish risk, going alone.
Sirra growled, pointing out that Lowie had taken exactly the same risk.
Lowie barked in agreement—yes indeed, he had been a fool.
His sister’s voice was harsh. If he had it to do again, would he do anything different? Would he take a friend?
Lowie nodded a quick affirmative. Sirra said nothing, but even in the darkness Lowie could see her fur bristling in disbelief. After a long silence he finally sighed, then shook his head.
After another long pause Sirra told her brother how much Raaba admired him, how much she had wanted to be like Lowie.
Lowie looked up at the sky again, at the stars that Raaba had loved. He gave a questioning growl. When he had left for the Jedi academy, Lowie and Raaba had been too young to speak of making a life-bond. He still had his Jedi training ahead of him … and Raaba had plans too. With Sirra.
Here Sirra’s voice broke. She crooned a low mournful note and then another. After a time, Lowie added his voice to hers, and together beneath the stars, they poured out their grief for a lost friend.
Hours later, Lowie felt more refreshed than he would have thought possible, even had he slept the entire night. It had been better to spend the time growing closer to his sister.
Sirra’s husky voice broke into his thoughts, asking about his Jedi friends. Would they grieve for him, if he were gone? Like she and Lowie had done for Raaba?
He nodded emphatically, and she told him he was fortunate to have found them.
Encouraged, he asked her more about the plans she and Raaba had made.
Sirra did not speak for so long he was afraid he had offended her or reopened an old wound. Finally she described how they were going to be pilots, galactic adventurers. They had planned to work on freighters until they earned enough credits to buy their own ship and explore the stars. They could have been rich traders. She chuffed with bitter laughter. Raaba even had some fur-brained notion that they could make their names by charting out new hyperspace routes.
Lowie’s fur bristled, and he commented that such a career was a dangerous business.
Sirra’s tone was wry, pointing out that danger had never deterred their friend Raaba. Sirra spread her hands, confessing that she didn’t want to do that anymore. Not without Raaba. She didn’t know what she wanted to do now—but she definitely didn’t want to stay on Kashyyyk.
Sirra paused again and stared upward. Lowie followed his sister’s gaze, wondering if she imagined Raaba out there among the stars, exploring and having the adventures the two of them had always dreamed of.
Sirra sighed. It was difficult to lose a friend, she said.
Lowie realized how easy it was to take friends—and family—for granted. He found it hard to imagine how lonely his sister must be.
Sirra hesitantly asked him if he would spend the day with her while Chewbacca and Jaina continued to tinker with the Shadow Chaser.
Remembering his earlier feeling of foreboding, Lowie gladly agreed.
11
As midmorning sunshine drove off the last shreds of mist that clung to the wroshyr treetops, four muscular Wookiees marched to the transportation control tower of the computer fabrication complex.