“Being a bounty hunter’s hard work,” Han pointed out. “Dangerous, too. You don’t make a lot of friends.”
“I have friends,” Zekk said firmly. “I’m not looking to make many new ones. Besides, I still have some skills in the Force that other bounty hunters don’t have. And I think I’d be good at it.
“That’s how I found you here, you know,” Zekk went on. “Jaina, remember when you told me that you were thinking of coming here, to the Alderaan rubble field? I didn’t give it a second thought. But when I was drifting away from Ennth, trying to figure out where to go, letting the Force guide me, I got a strange and powerful feeling that you were in trouble. That’s why I came, at the Lightning Rod’s top speed. Good thing, too.”
He looked around, shuffling his feet uncomfortably. “Maybe as a bounty hunter I can even find what Nolaa Tarkona is looking for before anyone else does—it would serve Boba Fett right for trying to kill my friends.”
Jaina saw a familiar look come over her father’s face. Han Solo was intrigued. “You know, kid, that’s not a half-bad idea…. I think you could be some real help to the New Republic.”
Jaina saw a spark of hope lighten Zekk’s face at this encouragement, and she knew that she had lost any chance of persuading him to return with her to the Jedi academy now. But she had known that already, hadn’t she? She had only friendship to offer him, nothing more.
Jaina sighed. Forward: there was no other direction to go.
She cleared her throat, trying to ignore the painful lump forming there. “My dad knows a lot about bounty hunters and smugglers, Zekk. He’s learned plenty of tricks over the years. Maybe he could give you a few tips.” She darted a glance at her father to get his approval, and he gave her a slight nod.
Zekk’s brows drew together, and his emerald eyes darkened as if he were fighting some internal battle. Then, as quickly as it had come, the inner storm passed, and he stood straight again, his smile bright.
Zekk reached for Jaina’s hand and gave it a brief squeeze. “Thanks,” he said. “I’ll take you up on that.”
21
It was late afternoon when the Rock Dragon and the Millennium Falcon touched down on the landing field near the Great Temple. The Hapan ship’s engines still sounded weary and uneven as it descended through the humid atmosphere—but the craft flew passably, and had made it through hyperspace all the way back to Yavin 4 without a mishap.
Jacen couldn’t remember the jungles of Yavin 4 ever looking greener, more full of life. The distant sun sparkled brightly. He couldn’t put his finger on why, but a flood of excitement and anticipation rushed through his veins like a babbling brook.
Tenel Ka turned to him and quirked an eyebrow as the craft settled to the ground. “Yavin 4 does seem beautiful,” she said, looking at him with a surprised expression, tossing red-gold braids away from her face. Jacen wondered if she had picked up on his emotions.
Jaina powered down the Rock Dragon’s engines. “I know what you mean. I feel the same. I’m looking forward to getting back to work on the reconstruction efforts around here—and even to all those tedious Jedi practice exercises.”
Lowie gave a thoughtful rumble. With a whine and a blast of altitude-control jets, the Millennium Falcon landed beside them.
“When I saw the Great Temple from up in the sky, I felt relief,” Tenel Ka continued. “From that altitude I could see no damage—only that the temple was still there, surrounded by all the jungle. Strange …”
“Maybe it’s not so strange,” Jaina said. “After seeing what the Death Star did to Alderaan, knowing that there’s no way to repair that kind of destruction, I feel lucky that we all made it back here in one piece. Remember, the Death Star almost did the same thing to Yavin 4.”
Lowie gave a short woof. “Oh, I agree, Master Lowbacca,” Em Teedee said. “I have a definite preference for my planets and moons to be in one piece.” Lowie finished the ship’s shutdown procedures, and Jaina flicked the switch that extended the landing ramp. Han Solo and Chewbacca had already emerged from the Millennium Falcon.
“Look, there’s Mom and Anakin,” Jaina said, pointing out the front viewports, shading her eyes from the bright afternoon sunlight.
Watching his father dash down the ramp of the Falcon and swing Leia into his arms, Jacen suddenly remembered why he had felt so excited. Tonight, the entire Solo family would be together to celebrate his mother’s birthday.
Jacen snatched open his crash webbing. He grinned a challenge at his sister. “Race you!” Before she even had a chance to say “What are you waiting for?” he scrambled out of his seat and headed for the exit.
That evening hundreds of torches flickered in the warm night air, decorating the Great Temple on Yavin 4. They burned at each corner on all levels of the pyramid, running in brilliant zigzagged columns up both sides of the stairways.
Jaina looked down the long wooden tables that had been used for her mother’s birthday feast. The Jedi students and instructors, the New Republic engineers, and the few dignitaries who had come from Coruscant were just beginning to disperse, but Han, Luke, the twins, and Anakin would stay for a smaller, more private celebration, along with the family’s closest friends, Chewbacca, Lowie, and Tenel Ka. Surrounded by her husband and children, Leia seemed unusually relaxed and contented.
“Happy birthday, Mom,” Jaina said.
“I couldn’t have asked for any more wonderful gift than to have my whole family with me,” Leia answered. “It’s such an unusual occurrence these days. And your father was very mysterious about this trip you all took.”
Jaina suddenly wondered if she and Jacen had made the wrong choice for their mother’s present. Would Leia be disappointed by the gift they had brought? Would it bring back too many painful memories about her lost home of Alderaan? What if it only saddened her?
Han put his arm around Leia. “The kids have a presentation to make. They got you something special.”
Jaina glanced at Anakin, who quickly got the message. Her younger brother had always been perceptive. “I’ll go first,” he said.
Anakin flicked his fringe of straight brown hair away from his eyes and gently set a wrapped package the size of his fist on the table in front of his mother.
Leia carefully untied the strings and pulled back the glittering mesh that covered the gift. “Oh, Anakin. It’s beautiful,” she said, holding up a tiny stone replica of the Great Temple, a small ziggurat complete with the most meticulous details.
“I used the hologram as a pattern. I made this out of broken stone shards from the temple, pieces crushed too finely to use in the rebuilding. It’s to remind you of what the temple will look like again, once we’re all finished.”
Jaina’s throat tightened at the sight of the massive pyramid, intact again, if only in miniature. She nodded to Jacen, who reached beneath his seat, pulled out the gift that they had brought, and placed it on the table with a soft thunk.
Their mother gave them a grateful smile. “It’s heavy—what is it, a rock?”
Jaina had prepared a speech to go with it, but suddenly she found she couldn’t remember the words. She watched silently as her mother unwrapped the brightly colored cloth that held the shard of Alderaan. Lowbacca and Tenel Ka both looked on intently, in silence.
Leia studied it, ran her fingers over the metal’s sparkling, faceted surface as if it crackled with electricity. “It’s from Alderaan, isn’t it?” she asked in a whisper.