Jacen was on his knees now, dazedly swinging one-handed with the stick. His right arm hung limp at his side. Lowie saw that both of his friends were battered and bruised, and that still the rocks fired at them without mercy.
After a moment’s pause, something changed—and long metal knives began flying out.
Lowie worked close to panic, but forced his concentration on the computer. It was his only hope. Jacen and Jaina’s only hope.
The twins used their Force abilities to deflect the incoming blades into the walls, where they left long white scars on the metal. Another knife launched out. And another.
Frantically keying in more commands on the control terminal, Lowie let the floating remotes fall silent. He had one last idea. One last chance.
“Master Lowbacca,” Em Teedee scolded, “just what do you think—”
Lowie punched in a command string that he hoped would bypass all other informational sequences, then executed it.
Five portholes opened at once, each ready to launch its deadly knife blade—
Suddenly, the entire training room shut down. The lights winked out. The porthole doors slammed shut. Everything went dark.
With a heavy groan of relief, Lowie slumped back in his chair, running a broad hand over the black streak of fur above his eyebrow. At last he had managed to crash the murderous testing routine.
“Oh, Lowbacca!” Em Teedee wailed. “Dear me, you’ve really botched everything up! Have you any idea how much trouble it will be to fix this mess?”
Lowie smiled, showing fangs, and purred in contentment.
Brakiss and Tamith Kai charged into the observation room. The Nightsister, her black cloak swirling around her like a storm cloud, was furious. Her violet eyes looked ready to shoot lightning bolts. “What have you done?” Tamith Kai demanded.
Brakiss raised his eyebrows, an expression of proud amusement on his face. “The Wookiee has done exactly what I told him to do,” Brakiss said. “He defended his two friends. We didn’t tell him he had to follow our rules. It seems he accomplished the objective admirably.”
Tamith Kai’s wine-dark lips formed a sour expression. “You condone this, Brakiss?” she said.
“It shows initiative,” he said. “Learning to find innovative solutions is an important skill. Lowbacca here will be a fine addition to the defenders of the Empire.”
Lowie roared at the insult.
“Oh, Lowbacca, I’m so proud of you!” Em Teedee said.
Stormtroopers brought out Jacen and Jaina, who stumbled as they walked, obviously hurt. Their clothes were ragged and torn. Scrapes and bruises covered their faces, arms, and legs. Blood oozed from a dozen minor cuts, and the twins blinked their brandy-brown eyes in the bright lights of the observation room.
Brakiss commended both of them for their efforts. “A very good test,” he said. “You young Jedi Knights continue to impress me. Master Skywalker must be doing a good job selecting his candidates.”
“Better candidates than you’ll ever get,” Jaina said, finding the strength to defy him despite her injuries.
“Indeed,” Brakiss agreed. “That’s why we decided to take some of those that he has already selected. You three were only the first we obtained from the Jedi academy. You’ve shown such potential that we are now ready to kidnap another group from Yavin 4. From there, we’ll have all the Jedi students we could possibly use.”
Lowie growled. Jacen and Jaina looked at each other aghast, then at their Wookiee friend. Even without using the Force, the three companions knew they all shared the same urgent thought.
They had to do something—and soon.
19
Tenel Ka used a Jedi relaxation technique, hoping to quell her nervousness before Vonnda Ra could pick up on it. Waiting beside her at the strip of packed dirt the Nightsisters used for a landing field, Luke looked serene, but Tenel Ka caught a trace of curiosity and excitement in him, as if he were embarking on a great adventure.
“There,” said Vonnda Ra, stretching an arm toward the horizon where a glimmer of silver flickered. As Tenel Ka watched, the streamlined metallic shape grew rapidly larger.
“You are most fortunate,” Vilas said, striding up behind them. Vonnda Ra sent him a questioning look, and he shrugged. “I felt her presence, and I could not help but come to greet her.” He indicated the approaching craft. “One of our most accomplished young sisters, Garowyn herself, will escort you to your new place of training.”
Tenel Ka guessed that Garowyn must also come from Dathomir, since the name was common enough here. Another Nightsister then. How could so many Nightsisters have come together so quickly? she wondered. It was not yet two decades since Luke and her parents had eradicated the old Nightsisters, yet here again was a growing enclave of both women and men who had been seduced by the dark side of the Force, lured by its promises of power. The Empire had been here as well, seeking new allies.
Tenel Ka gritted her teeth. Were her people truly so weak? Or was the temptation of great power, once tasted, too strong to resist? She renewed her resolve: She would not use the Force unless her own physical powers were inadequate for the situation. She didn’t like easy solutions.
Tenel Ka stifled her feelings as a compact, shiny ship settled with effortless precision not far from where they stood. Although she knew it belonged to the Nightsisters—or to whomever had kidnapped Jacen and Jaina and Lowbacca—she marveled at its construction.
The ship was not large, probably built to carry a dozen people, but its lines were clean and smooth, almost inviting Tenel Ka to run her hand along its side. No carbon scoring stained the hull; its surface bore no pits, dents, or evidence of the meteorites commonly encountered in space and atmosphere. The overall design seemed vaguely Imperial, but Tenel Ka could not identify it as any type of craft she had ever seen before.
She heard a low whistle from Luke and a murmured question, as if he were talking to himself. “Quantum armor?”
“Exactly,” Vilas said, sounding pleased.
As an entry ramp extended from the sleek underbelly of the small craft, Vonnda Ra stepped forward to greet the woman who emerged, clasping both of her hands in welcome. When the woman stepped off the ramp, Tenel Ka saw that she was half a meter shorter than Vonnda Ra. Though petite, the newcomer was powerfully built. Long, light brown hair streaked with bronze fell to her waist, secured with just enough braids and thongs to keep it out of her way, as befitted a warrior woman of Dathomir.
Without further ado, the woman pilot broke away from Vonnda Ra and came to stand before Luke and Tenel Ka. Her hazel eyes assessed each of them critically. “You are new recruits?”
Before Tenel Ka could answer, Vilas broke in, as if desperately eager to talk to the pilot. “You’ll find that they have remarkable potential, Captain Garowyn.”
Tenel Ka heard tension and hope—and longing—in his voice. She wondered if Vilas could be secretly in love with Garowyn. Her features were refined, and her creamy-brown skin was set off to perfection by her tight-fitting red lizard-skin armor. The black knee-length cape she wore open at the front seemed to be her only outward concession to the fact that she was a Nightsister, and Tenel Ka guessed from the haughty set of her mouth and her shrewd eyes that Garowyn did not often make concessions.
“Vilas, busy yourself unloading the supplies,” Garowyn said dismissively. “I will test these two myself.” Vilas cringed and shuffled dispiritedly over to unload the ship, but Garowyn did not notice. She threw Luke and Tenel Ka a challenging look and directed a question at them. “What do you think of my ship, the Shadow Chaser?”
“It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Luke replied softly.