None were inhabited, and none had been disturbed in centuries.
Civilization on Kuar had died out long ago, and it seemed that no new settlers had taken up residence here.
They found no dues to Bornan Thul’s whereabouts, no evidence to show he or anyone else, had been here.
Jacen was beginning to get nervous. He could see Jaina biting her lower lip. “Where are people when you need them?” he heard her mutter.
“You, um … you don’t suppose,” Jacen began, “that some war or virus or something could have killed everybody on Kuar, do you?”
Jaina darted him a startled look, as if she had not thought of this.
“No,” Tenel Ka said simply. “The Mandalorians used the planet briefly after they conquered it. Then they abandoned this place.”
“Rest assured, Master Jacen,” Em Teedee chimed in, “all evidence indicates that the settlements we’re seeing have been deserted for hundreds if not thousands—of years.”
Jacen relaxed slightly. “Okay, there aren’t any people. Then what exactly are we looking for, anyway?”
“No people, no beacons…. “Jaina mused. “Where would strangers plan to meet? A landmark maybe?” Jaina said.
“There is much surface area to cover,” Tenel Ka pointed out.
“It would have to be an obvious meeting place, then,” Jaina said. “Something that’s easy to find on a planet this size.”
Lowie rumbled that the meeting place would need a good landing area nearby.
“Okay, that’s what we’re looking for, then.” Jaina nodded. “Trust me, I’ll know it when I see it.”
Jacen, Lowie, and Tenel Ka exchanged amused glances.
As it turned out, Jaina was right. Just before dawn she saw a broad-based mesa that rose a kilometer above the cracked and dusty plain. As they drew closer, it became clear that the plateau, which was close to three kilometers wide, was not really a mesa. The majority of the mountain’s flat top had collapsed into a deep crater, surrounded by an artificially broad, level rim, forming a gigantic natural arena.
Houses and tunnels and walkways and stairs had long ago been built into the interior sides of the crater. From the floor of the crater rose the ruins of a vast array of tall, crumbling buildings. A network of rusty chains connected the tops of these structures, like the web design of some deranged insect. Jaina brought the Rock Dragon in for a smooth landing on the broad lip of the crater.
“Here we are,” she said smugly. “Landmark. Easy to spot. Excellent landing area. This would be my guess.” Lowie agreed enthusiastically.
“Our sensors indicate no signs of airborne contaminants that would endanger the lives of humans or Wookiees,” Em Teedee assured them. “The atmosphere is perfectly breathable.”
“Everybody out, then,” Jaina said. “Time to stretch our legs.”
“Great,” Jacen sighed, unbuckling his crash webbing. He was already thinking about what kinds of unusual creatures they might encounter, hoping he would find some of the interesting specimens he had seen from the air.
“Now the next stage of our search begins,” Tenel Ka said. “The real work.” She followed Jacen down the shuttle’s exit ramp, breathing deeply of the dry air. Jaina and Lowie tumbled after them, eager to move about after their long journey.
Jacen ran to the edge of the deep crater and looked down at the patchwork of ancient buildings, chains, and walls dappled by shadows.
“It could take a long time to search all that,” he said. “It’s a whole city.”
Lowie gave a negative growl. “Lowie’s right. I think it would be more logical to start up here,” Jaina said. “The best place to set down a ship would be somewhere along this rim,” she made a sweeping gesture with one arm to indicate the wide ledge that encircled the crater, “rather than down there.”
After a brief consultation, the young Jedi Knights spread out from the rocky edge and spaced themselves to cover the greatest area. They walked slowly around the rim, scanning the ground ahead and to each side for any sign of a recent disturbance in the ancient settled dust.
After several false alarms—which turned out to be nothing more than a gouge out of the rock, a shiny feather, or some animal droppings—Jacen, who was closest to the outer rim, saw something flutter up ahead.
Shading his eyes with one hand against the direct glare of the early morning sun, he ran forward, certain in his heart that he had discovered something important. To his great disappointment, though, he found nothing more than a flat gray slab of rock, as large as one of the serving trays back at the Jedi academy.
His sister, Lowie, and Tenel Ka dashed up beside him.
“What is it?” Jaina asked.
“Nothing, I guess,” Jacen said. “I thought I saw something colorful moving over here—fluttering, kind of. Maybe it was just a bird or a plume of dust, I don’t know.”
Tenel Ka bent low and circled the rock.
“Ah. Aha,” she said. She reached beneath the edge and pulled.
“Lowbacca, my friend—?” she began, but before she could finish her request, Lowie had already lifted the slab of rock high overhead and tossed it aside down the steep edge inside the crater.
Tenel Ka straightened. In her hand she held a long piece of cloth, a sash, sewn from alternating strips of yellow, purple, red, and orange fabric.“The colors of the House of Thul,” she said matter-of-factly. “Raynar’s mother also wore such a sash.”
“Why, bless me,” Em Teedee exclaimed.
He was viewing the scene from a perspective that none of the others had. “Does the House of Thul also place inscriptions on its clothing?”
“Not that I’ve ever noticed,” Jacen said, wondering what the little droid was getting at.
“May I see that?” Jaina asked. Tenel Ka handed her the sash.
Jaina grasped the material with one hand near each end and stretched it out straight. She scanned the sash, then flipped it over. “Look!”
Jacen moved closer. Sure enough, there on the yellow band of material scratched in faint gray letters was a message.
“Danger,” it said. “If I am caught, all humans in mortal danger. Thul.”
“Gracious me!” Em Teedee exclaimed. “If this warning is genuine, then I do hope Master Thul is safe. If not, we’re doomed!”
11
Under the hazy midmorning sunshine of Kuar, Jacen stood with the other young Jedi Knights outside the Rock Dragon. They talked earnestly, waiting until all ideas had been discussed to make their decision. It reminded Jacen of those political meetings his mother always complained about … but now he saw the necessity for careful planning. Considering the ominous message on the sash, he and Jaina, Tenel Ka, and Lowie needed to be certain their next step in the quest to find Raynar’s father was a prudent one.
“Well, we know he came here,” Jacen said, “and had some kind of important meeting, then left that warning written on his sash.”
Tenel Ka nodded, her warrior braids swinging like red-gold chains. “Yes, and the business Bornan Thul transacted must be connected with his disappearance.”
Jaina paced on the weathered ground. “But what was it? And why did they come to this planet? Is Kuar just an out-of-the-way meeting place—or was there some connection to the ancient Mandalorians?”
Jacen rubbed his hands together and grinned eagerly. “Hey, I think we should explore those ruins some more. There’s plenty of places we haven’t looked into. Who knows what clues we might still find?”
Lowie growled, his fur ruffling. Em Teedee translated. “Yes indeed—and who knows what vicious creatures we might find?”
Jacen bobbed his head, still grinning. “Yeah, just think?”
Holding on to the thick rusted chains, careful to avoid the broken staircases and treacherous ramps, the young Jedi Knights made their way down the cliff wall into the stadium. Out in the hazy distance, clouds of dust hung like brown soup in the air.