Finally Raaba turned and stalked away.
Although Tenel Ka hoped to develop a plan, at the moment she had to admit that she could see no way for them to escape.
12
The small green jungle moon of Yavin 4 was a welcome sight in the Lighting Rod’s front viewports. Though thoughts of the Jedi academy still intimidated him, Zekk found his spirits rising in anticipation of seeing his friends Jaina and Jacen Solo again.
He used the entry request code that Jaina had so thoughtfully provided when helping him overhaul the Lightning Rod on Mechis III; the New Republic guardian forces in orbit allowed him to pass. Nosing the Lightning Rod down into Yavin 4’s atmosphere, he wondered if the twins would help persuade Raynar to go along on his search for Bornan Thul.
They might even volunteer to accompany him themselves. He hoped that at least Jaina would want to join him.
But as Zekk made his final approach to the Jedi academy’s landing clearing in front of the Great Temple, now mostly restored, he felt a strange twinge through the Force. Not a tingle at the back of his neck, as he sometimes felt when danger was present. It was more like a premonition that the day would not turn out quite as Zekk hoped.
Trying to brush aside his sense of unease, Zekk brought the Lightning Rod in for a skillful landing on the stubbly grass field. A part of him hoped that the orbiting security force had alerted Jaina of his arrival.
If so, Jaina might even now be hurrying down to the landing area to greet him.
To his disappointment, though, he saw not a single familiar face when he stepped out of his ship in the broad clearing. In fact, except for the pair of New Republic guards who patrolled the base of the stone pyramid, no one seemed to take any notice of Zekk’s arrival.
Shrugging off his disappointment, Zekk started toward the ancient temple building to find his friends. At the young man’s approach, the two New Republic guards—a human and a fish-headed Calamarian—conferred briefly.
One pointed behind Zekk at the Lightning Rod, while the other consulted a datapad in his hand.
Apparently satisfied, the two nodded. The Calamarian offered Zekk a courtesy salute with a broad, webbed hand before the guard’s split up and resumed their patrols.
With a pang of guilt, Zekk wondered if Master Skywalker still objected to the military force Chief of State Organa Solo had stationed on the jungle moon, or if he had become resigned to them by now. Zekk himself was partly responsible for the soldiers being assigned to Yavin 4.
He had led the Shadow Academy’s Dark Jedi in their attack against Skywalker’s students.
High above, on the upper levels of the Great Temple, a few engineers and stoneworkers continued the final stages of the pyramid’s reconstruction.
The upper floors had been blasted away by an Imperial saboteur’s bomb.
Zekk also felt responsible for the damage the Shadow Academy had inflicted on the ancient Massassi buildings.
Suddenly, as if summoned by Zekk’s thoughts, the Jedi Master himself appeared at one of the Great Temple’s exterior staircases. With gliding steps, Luke Skywalker came toward him.
Zekk stopped short and struggled to compose himself. He’d expected the Jedi Master to be away on one of his frequent missions. He would have preferred not to face Luke right now. Zekk still had a great deal to atone for.
Master Skywalker had forgiven him for his part in the Shadow Academy now that Zekk had turned away from the dark side of the Force. Even so, it was difficult for Zekk to look the Jedi Master in the face without remembering that he had once been prepared to kill this man and destroy everything he had worked to build….
A warm smile curved the Jedi Master’s lips as he clasped Zekk’s hand in welcome. But his blue eyes, though kind, held a serious look. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here to greet you,” he said. “It’s been a busy day of arrivals and departures for us. I only returned from Coruscant a few hours ago, and already I’ve had to send Tionne and ArtooDetoo off on a special assignment. After the fall of the Second Imperium, I expected the galaxy to be a quiet place … but now it seems too quiet; I can sense dark undercurrents, secret plans being drawn against us. I have to be watchful.”
Motioning for Zekk to follow him, Luke went back up the broad stairs and into the Great Temple. Once Zekk had stepped into its cool interior, Master Skywalker spoke again. “You have a strong purpose in coming here today, Zekk. Is the Lightning Rod in need of repairs again?”
“No, my ship is fine,” Zekk said. As they walked along the dim corridors, he tried to tell which parts of the outside walls were original, ancient stone and which had been replaced by skillful craftsmen after the great battle.
Luke Skywalker may have forgiven him, Zekk thought, but did the Jedi trust him? “Actually, I need to speak with Raynar Thul, and Jaina and Jacen.”
Luke Skywalker turned to Zekk with a look of surprise. “They didn’t send you a message? I only had a couple of hours to speak with Tionne before she left today, but she told me that Tenel Ka received some disturbing news from home several days ago. It must have been something pretty important, because Jacen and Jaina left with her in the Rock Dragon to investigate. They took Raynar with them, too.”
Zekk was filled with a sense of dismay. “So they’re on Hapes, then? Or somewhere on Dathomir, maybe?”
Luke’s eyebrows drew together in a frown of concern. “Tionne didn’t say. I don’t think she spoke with them directly before they left.”
Zekk decided to throw caution to the wind. He wasn’t sure if Master Skywalker trusted him yet, but if what Zekk suspected was true, then there was no time to agonize over the Jedi Master’s opinion of him. He squared his shoulders and plunged ahead.
“I need your help, Master Skywalker,” he said. “I’ve got to find Raynar in the next few days. It may be a matter of life and death—for all of us. It has to do with his father … and the Diversity Alliance.”
Luke looked probingly into Zekk’s emerald-green eyes. Knowing the Jedi could read all of his past guilt and see that the destruction and death he had caused still haunted him, Zekk felt a need to flinch and avert his gaze. But this was too important, so he stood fast and looked steadily back at Master Skywalker.
Finally, the Jedi Master gave a slow nod.
“Lusa was the one who told Tionne that the others had left in the Rock Dragon. She’s an old friend of Jaina’s, and recently she and Raynar have become rather close. If anyone knows exactly where they went, it’s Lusa.”
“Can I speak with her?” Zekk asked. “It’s important.”
“No one has seen her around the Jedi academy since early this morning,” Luke said, “but I’m pretty sure I know where to find her. There’s a special place she likes to go.”
13
The quarters the Diversity Alliance assigned to Lowie were decorated in a style that Raaba had termed “austere opulence.” No frills or unnecessary adornments cluttered the area, but the cave chamber and its furnishings were of the highest quality. The rooms were heated to a temperature almost comfortable for Wookiees, and the insulfoam that covered the rock walls had been painted to simulate the dark green-and-brown shadows of a thick forest canopy.
The solid Wookiee-sized sleeping pallet bolted halfway up one of the room’s walls was as comfortable a bed as Lowie had ever slept in. The unobtrusive lighting could be adjusted to stimulate various conditions, from bright sunlight, to starlight, to pitch black. The sturdy worktable held a state-of-the-art computer station at the perfect height for a full-grown Wookiee. In the corner opposite the sleeping pallet, a massive simulated tree bole swung aside to reveal a fully equipped refresher unit. Nolaa Tarkona had certainly gone out of her way to provide him with Pleasant accommodations, Lowie mused.