There. He had it. Jacen opened his eyes. “Well, it’s not a crystal snake, if that’s what you’re worried about. Nothing dangerous.”
“Well, if you’re sure, I’ll go back to my station,” Raynar said, twisting his brown sash into knots around his fingers.
“This’ll take just a few minutes,” Jacen answered. “There’s nothing lurking anywhere near your comm console. Don’t worry.” Raynar nodded and cautiously went back to his workstation.
Jacen headed to where Tenel Ka worked quickly and methodically, clad only in her lizard-hide armor, a pair of boots, and a tool belt. “Hey, Tenel Ka. How do you tell the difference between a rancor?” he asked brightly.
Tenel Ka turned her cool gray eyes toward him and raised an eyebrow. “I believe that one of its legs are both the same.”
Jacen blinked in surprise. “You’ve heard that one before?”
“Yes.” Tenel Ka did not stop working. “Please hold this. Thank you. Your joke is a well-known piece of non-sequitur humor from my mother’s clan on Dathomir. Most people don’t understand it—even fewer find it funny.”
Jacen slapped his forehead. “I should have known. Anyway, Raynar said you wanted to see me.”
“Ah. Aha.” She gestured toward a metallic box fastened near the ceiling. “I had hoped you could convince the creature to leave the power transformer housing before it comes to harm, or before it causes any damage to the circuitry.”
“Hey, that’s great, Tenel Ka. I think you’re really starting to understand how I feel about animals and why I like to collect pets.”
“Perhaps,” she said. Then in a drier voice she added, “I also had no wish to disassemble and reassemble the transformer housing.”
Jacen felt himself flush. Well, at least she had asked for his help, which was rare enough for Tenel Ka.
Jacen rolled a portable piece of lightweight scaffolding against the wall, locked it into place, then clambered up to where the uninvited reptilian guest had hidden. Placing his palm under a hole in the transformer housing, Jacen sent enticing thoughts to the creature inside. Warm. Safe. Warm. Food.
He concentrated, adding reassurance and calm thoughts, tempting the creature. In less than a minute, a spotted thyrsi slithered out and curled happily on Jacen’s palm. Long and flexible, the thyrsi looked like a skinny snake with twelve tiny legs.
“You just crawled in there for the heat, didn’t you?” Jacen crooned, cupping it in his hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll take you someplace that’s nice and warm.” He turned, holding on to the scaffolding with his free hand, careful to maintain his balance. Out of the corner of his eye, Jacen caught a flash of brightly colored robes.
“I just got a message that a ship’s coming down to the landing clearing, on final approach,” Raynar said. “It’s the Millennium Falcon returning from Coruscant.”
Jacen was just clambering down to the next level of the scaffolding. “Hey, Dad didn’t tell us he was coming back again so soon—” He loosened his hold for only a moment, but his balance was off. Trying to protect the thyrsi from harm, he tumbled backward toward the floor—
—only to be caught on a cushion of air just centimeters before he hit the flagstones. Jacen touched down lightly and breathed a sigh of relief. He raised his head to see Tenel Ka and Raynar standing together, locked in concentration.
Concern was written all over the Alderaan boy’s flushed face. He swirled the sleeves of his colored robes. “Sorry I distracted you, Jacen. Are you all right?”
Tenel Ka stretched out her arm and helped Jacen to his feet. “It takes a good deal of practice,” she said, “to climb with only one hand.”
“No kidding,” Jacen said. He held up his other hand to show her the thyrsi. “At least we’re both safe and sound,” he added, a bit sheepishly. Once again, he had bumbled in front of Tenel Ka! There didn’t seem to be any easy way to impress her.
Jaina and Lowie had rushed over in response to Raynar’s announcement. After seeing that her brother was all right despite the mishap, Jaina grinned mischievously at him. “Nice maneuver, laser brain.”
Lowie gave an urf of laughter.
To cover his embarrassment, Jacen turned to Raynar. “Hey, let’s go meet Dad and see if he’s heard anything about your father.”
The other boy perked up, showing sudden, intense interest.
Jacen cradled the thyrsi as they all ran out of the communications center. Along the way, he would find a warm spot on some sunbaked stones, well away from the reconstruction work, where the creature couldn’t cause any more mischief.
10
Yavin’s sun was bright and the jungle air warm, with a light breeze but none of the strong winds they had experienced a few days earlier. When Han Solo and Chewbacca strode out of the Falcon, Jaina turned to look behind her. Raynar stood alone a small distance away, twisting his brown sash around his fingers, his eyes averted from the happy family reunion.
Han noticed him, too. He flashed a quick grin at Jaina and Jacen. His eyes, though, were serious. “Got a surprise for you kids from home, but let me talk to Raynar first.”
The young Alderaan boy looked up hopefully. Jaina saw her father shake his head. “No news, actually,” Han Solo admitted. “But we’ve got some solid leads. If your father made it somewhere safe, we’re hoping hell try to get a message to you. In the meantime, we’ve got Lando Calrissian and some of the best ex-smugglers in the New Republic on the search.”
“I understand,” Raynar said, then turned and walked dejectedly back toward the Great Temple, his bright robes drooping around him.
With forced good humor after the sad news for Raynar, Han rubbed his hands together. “Ready for your surprise?” Han turned to yell up the ramp. “C’mon out.”
“Anakin!” Jaina exclaimed as their brother appeared in the opening.
“Hey, what’re you doing here?” Jacen asked, giving his little brother a playful punch on the shoulder.
“It’s a long story,” Anakin said, sweeping his straight dark bangs away from his ice-blue eyes. “You see, I had an idea for restoring the Great Temple. You know how much I like to take things apart and put them together again. I’ve always been good at puzzles.”
“Well, this one has an awful lot of pieces,” Jaina said, looking doubtfully at the piles of broken stones lying about. She dismissed a flickering thought that the whole place felt much bleaker, much emptier, since Zekk had departed.
“I suggested that we could treat the temple like a puzzle—sort out the pieces, then fit them back together again. I figured I could see the patterns in my mind,” Anakin continued. “Any areas that we can’t reconstruct from the original stones can be reproduced by New Republic artists so they’ll look just like the original Massassi work.” He held up a little hologram of the Great Temple, taken long ago when it had been used as a hidden Rebel base. “We’ll use this as a template.”
“Well, at least I have one brother who’s a genius,” Jaina said, tossing Jacen a teasing look.
“Mom seemed so excited by the idea that I sort of volunteered to come to Yavin 4, even though it’s not time for my classes to start again,” Anakin went on. “I’m not sure how it happened. I just said that I’d be one of the best people for putting together the puzzle pieces, and Dad said he’d help, and Mom seemed so happy….” He spread his hands, looking a bit confused. “And here I am.”
Han put a comforting hand on his younger son’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, kid. Your mom just has that effect on people. That’s how she got Chewie and me to help with her crazy Rebellion against the Empire.” The older Wookiee groaned at the memory.