“Those bounty hunters must be after all members of the Thul family, including me! Presumably, we can be used as bait to lure Bornan out of hiding.” He shook his head. “I wish my brother wasn’t so self-centered and foolish. I’m getting a good picture now of what happened,” he said. “The High Roller must have intended to create a diversion while Kusk kidnapped Aryn and Raynar, then launched them from this ship in an escape pod or any other craft that happened to be available.”
“Like the Rock Dragon,” Jaina said.
Lowie mulled this over, then rumbled his understanding. “Indeed,” Em Teedee piped up. “A relatively simple plan.”
“So the High Roller would have broken off its attack, picked up Kusk and the hostages, then made a quick hop into hyperspace,” Jaina said as full comprehension dawned on her.
“But what happened to the rest of the merchant fleet then?” Tyko asked.
Em Teedee made a sound as if he were clearing his throat. “Ahem. If you would allow me, sir, I’d like to access the Tradewyn’s Computers. I believe I might be able to rectify the situation.”
“Direct access to the Tradewyn’s computers?” Tyko’s eyes narrowed with suspicion. “I’ve had quite a bit of experience with droids, and I know how susceptible they are to programming glitches. How can I be sure this droid is trustworthy?”
“Programming glitches? Indeed!” Em Teedee huffed at the same moment Lowie let out a roar of offended pride.
Tyko backed away, holding up his hands in a placating gesture.
“Very well, very well, be my guest. Just don’t tell Aryn I gave you access. ” In a matter of minutes the Wookiee and Jaina had Em Teedee hooked up to the flagship’s bridge computer system.
As he scanned, Em Teedee began making cryptic comments. “Ah, yes…. I see…. Oh, indeed…. Fascinating!”
Jaina listened, biting her lower lip. Finally she could wait no longer. “Mind sharing your insights with us, Em Teedee?”
“Why of course, Mistress Jaina,” the little droid said. “How remiss of me. It’s just that this machine is so marvelously intelligent, and I—”
Lowie gave an impatient bark.
“Cut to the chase,” Jaina said.
“Go on, droid—tell us what happened,” Tyko added imperiously.
“Well,” Em Teedee began in a defensive voice, “I should think it is intuitively obvious by now. Officer Kusk had the navigational link to all of the fleet’s computers. He sent the rest of,them false jump coordinates.”
“So,” Tyko said, “that transmission burst security picked up a few minutes before our last hyperspace jump must have been Kusk sending the true coordinates to his brother the bounty hunter.”
“That seems highly likely, sir,” Em Teedee agreed. Lowie was interested to see Tyko’s attitude change subtly at this indirect praise from the miniaturized translating droid.
“A simple and elegant plan,” Tyko said. “Excellent work, droid. Can you plot us a route to where the rest of the fleet is now?”
“Of course, sir. Nothing simpler,” Em Teedee said. “I have become quite adept at establishing rapport with starship navicomputers.”
Uncle Tyko gave a decisive nod. “Very well, do that.” He paused for a moment. “Oh, and, er … Em Teedee, is it? When you’ve finished, can you work out an algorithm for randomizing our hyperspace jumps so that no one will be able to broadcast our coordinates ahead of time?”
“It would be my greatest pleasure, sir,” Em Teedee replied with pride.
Apparently satisfied, Tyko retreated to consult with the ship’s security staff while other crew members went to call Aryn Dro Thul back to the bridge. Lowie gave Em Teedee a congratulatory pat.
“Who says one can’t find any trustworthy help these days? Hmmmph!” the little droid said.
Even if official ceremonies with the Thul family were boring, Jacen thought, meals were not. Their group sat under a soundproof, gravity-controlled dome in a vast room with glossy yellow walls. They all lounged on cushioned benches that surrounded the low toroidal meal table.
In the open center of the table, a food carousel turned slowly to display every kind of fruit, meat, bread, vegetable, sweet, and delicacy Jacen could imagine. At the very center of the carousel bubbled a fountain filled with effervescent blue ossberry ale. Above the soundproof dome, a dozen low-gravity dancers tumbled and pirouetted through the air in the yellow room. But even such a large and wonderful ship as the Tradewyn must have seemed like a cage to Aryn and Raynar at the moment, Jacen supposed.
“Mother,” Raynar said suddenly, “tell me what you know about Father’s disappearance. I’ve never gotten anything but secondhand reports so far.”
Jacen snagged a cluster of orange berries from the food carousel and listened carefully. Aryn pressed her hands tightly together in her lap, and her lively, intelligent face filled with distress. “Bornan said it would be safer if. I didn’t know about the negotiations he was conducting—some important exchange with a representative of a new political movement. He said that the situation with his contact was quite volatile, but he hoped to have everything smoothed out before the trade conference he would attend on Shumavar.”
“He never arrived at the trade conference,” Raynar said, filling in the part that he already knew. “But do you know where he went before that? Where was the last place anyone saw him?”
“That much I was able to find out,” Aryn said. “Before he disappeared, he was going to some sort of mysterious meeting on an ancient planet called Kuar. Maybe that has something to do with the secret he was hiding.”
“Then that’s where I need to go to pick up his trail,” Raynar said.
“You’re not going anywhere, young man,” Tyko said. “It’s too dangerous. This recent little escapade with Kusk and his brother make that all too clear.”
“Kuar,” Tenel Ka said from across the table. “An odd place for a meeting, is it not? Has it not been abandoned for centuries?”
“You’ve heard of the planet, then?” Aryn asked.
“Only by reputation,” Tenel Ka said, tossing her red-gold braids behind her shoulders. “Kuar held a small measure of historic interest for me, since it is one of the ancient worlds conquered by Mandalorian warriors. A fearsome race of fighters. I have studied many of their legends.”
“Hey, doesn’t Boba Fett wear Mandalorian armor?” Jacen said. “And when he found us in the Alderaan system, he was looking for Bornan Thul.”
“All the more reason to go to Kuar,” Raynar said. “My father might have left a message there … or at least a clue.”
“It’s too risky,” Aryn said, shaking her head vigorously. “Raynar, if you leave our protection here, a thousand villains will be lying in wait for you.”
“Exactly,” Tyko added. “If you went to Kuar you could be playing right into some greedy bounty hunter’s hands—or worse. Until we can find out what kind of mess my brother has gotten himself into, you and your mother must stay under the protection of the fleet.”
“Ah,” Tenel Ka said, “aha. But we do not need to stay, my friends and I.”
“Hey, that’s right,” Jacen said. “We’ve got Tenel Ka’s ship, and we can go wherever we want. Nobody will notice us.”
Jaina spoke up, looking from Aryn to Raynar. “The four of us could check out Kuar for you—let you know what we find.”
Lowie rumbled his approval, and Raynar’s eyes lit with hope.
“That makes five of us,” Em Teedee chimed in.
Above them, one of the low-gravity dancers paused for a moment with her left foot on the top of the dome, then spun off again. Aryn gazed up and watched the dancer drift away. “It’s a very kind offer, but I’m afraid I can’t let you children—”
“Mother,” Raynar interrupted, “they’re not children. These are young Jedi Knights. They fought against the Shadow Academy and won.”