The old man swept unsorted debris from a low table, clearing a spot for Zekk to set down the stacked cans of food. The dark-haired boy studied them and passed out rations to everyone. Warm steam curled up from open lids as thermal units heated the contents.
Jaina sniffed at hers suspiciously, and Jacen poked into the goo, while Tenel Ka studied the label seriously. Lowie gave a doubtful growl.
“You needn’t complain, Master Lowbacca,” Em Teedee said. “I’m certain it’s quite nutritious. See? The label bears the Imperial stamp of approval.”
Zekk held up one of the cans. “These are old stormtrooper rations. We found an entire cache in one of the lower buildings. They don’t taste like much, but they have all our nutritional requirements.”
Tenel Ka dug in, grunting with satisfaction. “Quite acceptable,” she said.
Jaina stirred the grayish puttylike substance, smiled as Zekk dug in, then took a small bite herself. It didn’t taste bad. In fact, it didn’t taste like anything, so she ate courteously. When they had finished, She stood up, meeting Zekk’s emerald-green gaze. “Want to join us for a meal next time?”
Zekk brightened. “Fine with me. When?”
“Well,” Jaina said, biting her lower lip and considering, “since Peckhum is leaving you all alone, why don’t you come to the Imperial Palace tomorrow night? We’re taking a holiday with my parents in the morning, but we’re having some sort of special banquet in the evening. Banquets are usually pretty boring, but I’m sure we could get you invited.”
“Really?” Zekk said.
“Sure,” Jaina answered.
“That’s right,” Jacen agreed. “We’ll probably give Threepio the time of his life tending to us.”
5
Fat snowflakes fell in skirling patterns of white against white. There was ice and snow as far as the eye could see on the frozen mountains of Coruscant’s polar ice caps. Jaina’s exhaled breath produced small puffs of fog in front of her face. Her nose and throat tingled with cold as she inhaled, reveling in the feeling. The crisp air was fresh and clean and delicious.
The tauntaun beneath her, however, smelled bad. The creature was supposed to be well behaved, but Jaina didn’t think the Bothan stable manager at the polar corrals spent any more time training the wild arctic animals than he did bathing them.
The tauntaun was a white-furred reptile with curved horns jutting from its head. It ran on muscular three-toed hind legs designed to crunch across the snow at high speed. The animals were native to the ice world of Hoth, where the Rebel Alliance had long ago established a secret base. In recent years, though, an enterprising stable manager had transported a few of the beasts to Coruscant’s ice caps, intending to offer tauntaun riding as an activity for winter-sports enthusiasts who came to the north pole. But the tauntauns had become surly and stubborn after being transplanted from their home, and Jaina couldn’t see how riding one was supposed to be fun.
Her tauntaun fought the bit in its mouth as she tried to make it keep pace with Jacen and his mount. Anakin stayed closer to their father, who hung back next to Leia. Han Solo had claimed to be an expert rider of the uncooperative tauntauns, but Jaina giggled as she watched her father experience plenty of difficulty as they raced across the snows.
The part Jaina enjoyed most was just being able to spend a few hours away from the bustling city with her family, so they could be kids and their parents could be parents—if only for a little while.
Lowie had already made plans with his uncle Chewbacca, and See-Threepio had offered to spend the day showing Tenel Ka the finest obstacle courses and training facilities that Coruscant had to offer.
Before long, she and Jacen and their friends would have to return to the Jedi academy to continue their training, and Han and Leia would get back to their work building the New Republic.
For now, though, they were on vacation.
“Race you,” Jacen called, hunching over his tauntaun.
Jaina took up the challenge instantly. “Well then, what are we waiting for?” She leaned forward and jabbed her heels into the side of the snow lizard.
But just as Jacen whooped his own challenge, his tauntaun stopped dead in its tracks and refused to go a centimeter farther.
Jaina’s mount lurched forward at full speed, but she wasn’t able to gloat over her victory in the race, because she had as much trouble getting her tauntaun to stop as Jacen had getting his to move.
“More soup?” Leia asked, huddling next to the thermal container on the snow.
Jaina shook her head. “Don’t think I could eat another bite, Mom.”
“Hey, I’d love some more,” Jacen said.
“Me too,” Anakin chimed in.
“Make that three hungry Solo men,” Han Solo added with a lopsided grin, handing his soup cup to Leia. “Never could resist one of your packed lunches.”
“Yeah, I can push food-prep buttons better than anyone you know,” Leia said wryly.
Jaina sighed with contentment, glad just to relax. After the tauntaun riding, they had spent hours turbo-skiing, having snowball fights, and building cities in the snow. Now, seated on a thick slab of heat-reflective insulfoam, Jaina spread her arms wide, catching snowflakes on her gloved hands. “I wish we could do this more often,” she said.
“Maybe we should,” her mother replied.
Anakin slurped the last of his soup. “I’ll be coming to the Jedi academy again soon,” he said. “We can have more meals together then.”
“Oh, that reminds me,” Leia said. “Don’t forget, I’m hosting a very important banquet tonight for the new ambassador from Karnak Alpha.”
“Where’s Karnak Alpha?” Jacen asked. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it.”
“Out beyond the Hapes Cluster near the Core Systems,” his mother answered.
“Aren’t there still some Imperial strongholds in the Core Systems?” asked Jaina.
“Sure are,” Han Solo replied. “That’s why your mother thinks this dinner is so important. You’ll have to be on your best behavior.”
Jacen groaned. “If it’s so important, how come we have to be there?”
Leia smiled warmly. “I’d like you to meet the ambassador. Children play a very special part in the society of Karnak Alpha. They are seen as great treasures that grow richer every day. In Karnak society, the more children you have, the more status and honor you gain. Their government even has a children’s council.”
“Blaster bolts!” Jacen said. “I almost forgot. We invited Zekk over for evening meal tonight.”
“Can he come to the banquet too, Mom?” Jaina asked.
Leia looked flustered, an expression Jaina did not often see on her mothers face. “Zekk? Your young friend from the streets?”
“Aren’t you always saying that everyone is valuable, no matter what their background is?” Jaina put in, a little defensively.
“Yeeeesss … ,” Leia said, drawing the word out.
“Please? If you say yes, I’ll even let you braid my hair,” Jaina offered hopefully. She glanced at her brothers, looking for support, and saw Anakin’s face take on that peculiar measuring look it always did when he was solving a problem.
“If they value children so much, won’t the ambassador be happy to have another kid join us?” Anakin said.
Leia’s face cleared. “Yes, of course—that’s right. Your friend Zekk is more than welcome to come. In fact, we’ll invite Lowie and Tenel Ka too.”
Jaina laughed with relief. “Great! I’ll let them know as soon as we get back.”
Jacen finished his soup and stood up. “Do we have to leave right away?”
Han consulted his chronometer. “No, we’ve got an hour or two yet.”