The TIE pilot looked away, and his temper seemed to lessen. Jacen couldn’t tell if that was a result of his Jedi powers or if the Imperial soldier had simply been distracted.
“So what are you going to do with us?” Jacen asked.
Qorl glanced back at the twins, his face haggard. He looked very old and drained. “You have helped me a great deal. You were the only … company I have had for many years. I will leave you here alone in the jungle.”
“You’re just going to abandon us?” Jaina asked in disbelief. This time, Jacen elbowed her in the ribs. He didn’t relish the idea of being stranded in the jungle any more than she did, but several less-appealing possibilities had occurred to him.
“You can survive if you are resourceful,” Qorl said. “I know, because I did. Perhaps someone will find you eventually. Hope is your best weapon. It may not take twenty years for you to get home.”
He pondered for a moment, holding his dark helmet in his hands. Behind him, the repaired TIE fighter continued to purr, as if anxious to fly again. “You are lucky to be here, safe,” Qorl finally said. “I will rejoin the Empire. But as my last act here on this cursed jungle moon, I am going to destroy the Rebel base.”
“No!” Jacen and Jaina both shouted in unison.
“It’s just a school now. It’s not a military base,” Jacen added.
“Please don’t do this!” Jaina said. “Don’t attack the Jedi academy.”
But Qorl gave no sign that he heard them. He carefully placed the battered old helmet on his shaggy head and tightened down the blast shield.
“Wait!” Jaina cried, her eyes pleading. “They have no weapons in the temples!” She reached out with her mind, trying to touch the pilot, but he aimed his blaster at her and backed away.
Qorl climbed into the cockpit of the TIE fighter, eased himself into the ancient, torn seat in front of the controls, and sealed himself in. The twins rushed forward, pounding on the hull with their fists.
The roar of the engines increased and the repulsorlifts sent out a blast that knocked leaves, pebbles, and jungle debris in all directions.
The TIE fighter hummed, shifted from its overgrown resting place, and began to rise.
Jaina tried one last time to grab the hull plates, but her fingers slid along the smooth metal. Jacen pulled her back as the TIE’s engine power increased. The exhaust shrieked through the fighter’s cooling systems.
The twins staggered back under the protection of one of the overarching Massassi trees, alone and defenseless in the thick jungles.
Qorl’s TIE fighter, which had lain hidden and crippled on the surface of Yavin 4 for more than twenty years, finally rose into the air. Its twin ion engines made the characteristic moaning sound that had struck fear into the hearts of so many Rebel fighters.
With surprisingly skillful maneuvering and a burst of speed, Qorl’s fighter climbed up through the forest canopy and soared away toward the Jedi academy.
19
In the darkness of the jungle night, Tenel Ka plunged through tangled vines and dense, thorny thickets, hoping that the flying reptiles would not be able to follow. She panted from the exertion; breath burned in her lungs, but she did not cry out.
She could still hear the flap of the reptiles’ wide, leathery wings close behind her as they swooped in for the kill with their razor talons. The raucous cries of their hideous twin heads chilled her blood. She remembered hearing that such a beast had almost killed Master Skywalker many years ago. How did the monsters manage to maneuver in the crowded jungle? she wondered. Why couldn’t she lose them?
The bushes beside her hissed and rattled, and a stinger tail narrowly missed her arm. One of the winged monsters was directly above her, then. What could she do?
She pushed through a narrower space between two trees and heard a thump above her as the flying creature got stuck in the opening between the trees. Good, she thought. The rest would have to go around. That would buy her some time.
Tenel Ka pelted across a clearing toward the shadow of what she hoped was another patch of underbrush, but she had misjudged the speed with which the reptilian creatures could navigate the jungle obstacles. She could feel the menacing wind from their wings as one of them swooped down directly in her path.
She sensed, rather than saw, the outstretched claws, and tried to turn aside, but slipped on rotting vegetation and fell hard against a fungus-covered log. She sensed a second pair of claws rip through the air where her stomach had been only moments before. She shuddered as twin heads cried out in rage and frustration above her, tearing at thick, tangled twigs in the brush.
Why couldn’t she remember her Jedi calming techniques when she needed them? Why hadn’t she practiced harder? She closed her eyes, sensed, and rolled to one side as the flying monster drove down for another attack.
The sound of dozens of wings overhead prodded her back into motion. She rolled onto her bare hands and knees, scrambled through some low thornbushes, pushed herself to her feet, and kept running.
Sense, she told herself. Use the Force.
Suddenly, she changed direction, as if by reflex. She didn’t quite know why she had, for she couldn’t see where she was going in the thick night, but she knew she was right. Over and over, she dodged grasping talons and the thrust of stinging tails, until she came to a thick stand of Massassi trees. At her noisy approach, a chorus of squawks and scolding chitters erupted from the trees ahead.
Woolamanders—an entire pack, from the sound of them. She had probably disturbed their communal sleep. Perhaps they would be sufficient distraction.
Tenel Ka crouched low and dove into the shelter of the close-growing trees. Surprisingly, not one of the winged monsters followed. Instead, she heard their cries as they circled above and, deprived of their initial prey, hunted the woolamanders instead. The flying creatures screamed their blood lust, and the voices of the terrified woolamanders became fierce and defiant as the battle raged in the branches far overhead.
Sweat, twigs, leaves, and dirt clung to Tenel Ka’s red-gold hair. She shook her head to clear it. She was almost certain that through the racket, she had somehow heard a faint, familiar voice.
“Oh please, do be careful. My circuitry is extremely complex and should not under any circumstances be—” The voice cut off a moment later with a tiny wail. Then there was a thud as something hard landed beside Tenel Ka’s foot.
“Em Teedee, is that you?” she said. She groped around on the ground and picked up the rounded metallic form.
“Oh, Mistress Tenel Ka, it is you!” the little droid cried. “I shall be eternally grateful to you for this rescue. Why, you have no idea the ordeal I’ve been through,” he moaned. “The poking, the prodding, the shaking, the tossing. And such a dreadful—”
“My night has been no more enjoyable than yours,” Tenel Ka interrupted drily.
“Listen!” Em Teedee said. “Oh, thank goodness! Those dreadful creatures are leaving.”
Tenel Ka didn’t know whether Em Teedee was referring to the woolamanders or the giant flying reptiles, but she realized that the sounds of the overhead battle were moving farther and farther away through the canopy.
“We must make our escape immediately, Mistress Tenel Ka.”
“We can’t. We’ll have to wait until morning. Can you keep a watch out tonight while I sleep?”
“I’d be delighted to keep a watch for you, Mistress, but must we spend the night here?”
“Yes, we must,” Tenel Ka snapped, defensive now that the worst danger was over. “I need to wait until daylight so I can climb a tree and find out where we are.”
“Oh,” said Em Teedee. “But whyever should you want to do something like that?”