After what seemed like an eternity, Zekk fought his way back to consciousness. He felt as if a million volts had shot through his body, short-circuiting half of his nerves and leaving his muscles tingly and twitching.
His head ached. The hard metal floor beneath his body oozed a cruel chill. The harsh white light hurt his eyes.
When he sat up, he had to blink away sparkling, colored spots. Waiting for his vision to focus, Zekk finally realized there was nothing to see—only blank, whitish-gray walls. He found a small speaker grille and the vent for an air-circulation system, but nothing else. He couldn’t even find the door.
Zekk knew he must be in some kind of cell. He remembered struggling with the evil-looking people who had captured him in the lower city—a black-haired woman with violet eyes using a strange scanning device, and a dark young man who had stunned him….
“Hey!” he yelled. His voice sounded rough and hoarse. “Hey! Where am I?” He got to his feet, swaying from dizziness, and made his way to the nearest wall. He hammered on the metal plates, shouting for attention. He worked his way around the small room, but found no door crack.
He stumbled to the speaker and shouted into it. “Somebody tell me what’s going on. You have no right to take me prisoner!”
But in spite of his brave words, Zekk knew things that Jaina and Jacen, raised within the protective confines of the law and guarded by security forces all their lives, had never understood. Zekk knew that his “rights” wouldn’t be protected if someone had the power to take them away. No one would fight for him. No one would send military fleets to rescue him. If Zekk disappeared, there would be no public outcry. Few people would even notice.
“Hey!” he shouted again, kicking at the wall. “Why am I a prisoner? Why do you want me?”
He whirled as he heard a whishing sound on the opposite side of the room. A smooth door slid aside to reveal a powerful-looking man flanked by stormtroopers. The man was tall and wore silvery robes. His hair was blond and neat, his face gentle and complacent. His exceedingly handsome features looked as finely made as a sculpture. The man’s very presence exuded an aura of peace and calm.
“Aren’t you overreacting a bit?” the man said. His rich voice hummed with power and charisma. “We came as soon as we realized you were awake. You could have hurt yourself by pounding so hard on the walls.”
Zekk did not allow himself to relax. “I want to know why I’m here,” he said. “Let me go. My friends will be looking for me.”
“No they won’t.” The man shook his head. “We have enough information about you to know that. But don’t worry.”
“Don’t worry?” Zekk sputtered. “How can you say—” He stopped short, as the man’s words struck home. No, his friends wouldn’t be looking for him, would they? He doubted Jaina and Jacen would want to be seen with him after the debacle of the diplomatic banquet. “What do you mean?” he asked in a subdued voice.
The man in the silvery robes gestured to the guards. The stormtroopers waited outside as the man entered the cell alone, sealing the door behind him. “I see they put you in our … least extravagant living quarters.” He sighed. “We’ll find you a more comfortable room as soon as possible.”
“Who are you?” Zekk said, still not letting his guard down. “Why did you stun me?”
“My name is Brakiss, and I apologize for the … enthusiasm of my colleague Tamith Kai. But I do believe she authorized the use of force only because of your struggles. If you had cooperated, it could have been a much more pleasant experience.”
“I didn’t know being kidnapped was supposed to be ‘pleasant,’” Zekk snarled.
“Kidnapped?” Brakiss said in feigned alarm. “Let’s not jump to conclusions until we’ve got the full story.”
“Then explain it to me,” Zekk said.
“All right.” Brakiss smiled. “Would you like any refreshments? Something warm to drink?”
“Just tell me what’s going on,” Zekk said.
Brakiss pressed his hands together. His silvery robes flickered around him like rippling water under a cloudy sky. “I have some news for you—good news, I hope you’ll agree, although it may come as something of a shock.”
“What?” Zekk asked, frowning skeptically.
“Are you aware that you have Jedi potential?”
Zekk’s green eyes widened. “Jedi—me? I think you’ve got the wrong person.”
Brakiss grinned. “Fairly strong potential. We were surprised ourselves. Didn’t your friends Jacen and Jaina tell you? Weren’t you aware?”
“I don’t have any Jedi potential,” Zekk mumbled. “I couldn’t have anything like that.”
“And why not?” Brakiss asked, raising his eyebrows. He seemed so reasonable. He waited for Zekk to answer, and finally the boy looked down at his hands.
“Because I … I’m just a street kid. I’m a nobody. Jedi Knights are great protectors of the New Republic. They’re powerful and …”
Brakiss nodded impatiently. “Yes they are—but the potential to be a Jedi has nothing to do with where you live or how you were raised. The Force knows no economic boundaries. Luke Skywalker himself was just the foster son of a moisture farmer.
“Why shouldn’t a poor kid like you have just as much Jedi ability as, for instance, a politician’s twin children who live in luxury with all their needs cared for? In fact,” Brakiss said in a lower voice, “it could be that because your life has been so tough, your true potential as a Jedi has been honed even sharper than the potential of those pampered little brats.”
“They’re not brats,” Zekk retorted. “They’re my friends.”
Brakiss dismissed his comment with a casual wave. “Whatever.”
“How come I never knew about this? How come I never … felt anything?” Zekk asked. He realized suddenly what Tamith Kai had been scanning for with her strange electronic device.
Brakiss rocked back on his heels. “You might not know you had any Force talent if no one ever trained you. It’s a simple enough thing to measure, though. If Jacen and Jaina were such close friends, I’m shocked to think that they never bothered to test you. Isn’t it true that Master Skywalker is desperately on the lookout for more Jedi Knights?”
Zekk nodded uncomfortably.
“Well, if that’s so,” Brakiss continued, “why didn’t they test everyone around them? Why would they just dismiss you out of hand, Zekk? I think they’ve shortchanged you; they probably never even imagined that a street kid, a lowborn scamp, would be worthy of Jedi training, no matter what his innate potential.”
“That isn’t it,” Zekk muttered, but his words carried no strength.
“Have it your way.” Brakiss shrugged.
Zekk looked away, though the featureless walls of the cell gave him nothing else to stare at. He waved a hand around to indicate the cold, close cell. “What is this place?” he asked, trying to change the subject.
“This place is the Shadow Academy,” Brakiss said, and Zekk was startled to recognize the name of the hidden station where Jaina and Jacen had been held against their will. “I am in charge of training new Jedi for the Second Imperium. I use different methods than Master Skywalker follows at his Yavin 4 training center.” Brakiss frowned sympathetically. “But then you wouldn’t know, would you? Your friends never took you there.” His voice turned up in a question. “Did they? Even for a visit?”
Zekk shook his head.
“Well, I am training new Jedi, powerful warriors to help bring back the glory and order of a new Empire. The Rebel Alliance is a criminal movement. You wouldn’t understand that, because you’re too young to remember what it was like under Emperor Palpatine.”
“I hate the Empire!” Zekk said.