“Since Alderaan was destroyed, those are probably the last ones in existence,” Jaina pointed out.
“Only because Alderaan never made any attempt to defend itself,” Anja muttered. “Your Luke Skywalker proved that the Death Star wasn’t quite as unconquerable as the Empire thought.”
The thrantas circled back toward the dazzling lights of Cloud City, diving through the brightly colored beams as if they formed a glowing waterfall. As the thrantas looped around, preparing to head back out to the open sky, many small figures dropped off a launching ramp from the sides of the white metropolis.
Lowie growled in surprise. “People are jumping!” Jaina cried. “Out into open air!”
“Wait. They seem to know what they’re doing,” Zekk pointed out. “Watch. I think it’s part of the show.”
Jacen’s eyes gleamed. “They’re thranta riders!”
Smooth-skinned lanky humanoids dove from their precarious perches, somersaulting into the open sky without a care. Jacen could see that their exposed skin was painted with whorls of color, in black and red, yellow and green. The humanoids fell and tumbled without fear … and each thranta nosed out and dove toward a particular rider, moving in a beautifully choreographed dance.
Flapping sail-like wings, the thrantas swooped beneath the tumbling, dropping humanoids. The thranta riders completed their aerial acrobatics and each one of them landed perfectly in position on a small harness on a thranta’s back. With a resonant sound muffled by distance and the vastness of the giant floating city, spectators applauded and cheered the show.
“They must be training for their sky rodeo,” Jacen said. “I’ve read about them. Once a month they perform here on Cloud City in what has to be the most terrific exhibition in this spiral arm. Amazing creatures—and the riders, too.”
Several of the thranta riders now stood on the slippery backs of their beasts, holding their hands up. The squadron of thrantas swooped around each other in figure eights and swirled about like a swarm of maddened insects. In a silent, perfectly executed motion, the standing thranta riders leapt off the backs of their own creatures and landed on other ones. The riders switched mounts without a single mistake, without so much as slip. Every movement was beautiful and precise, like patterns in a kaleidoscope.
“If this is practice,” Jaina said, “can you imagine what the real show is like?”
“Maybe Cojahn was hoping to become a thranta rider,” Anja suggested sarcastically. “He jumped off…but missed. Should’ve practiced more in the simulation chambers, I guess.”
“That is an interesting hypothesis,” Tenel Ka replied, surprising Anja.
Zekk nodded. “Maybe we should at least talk to some of those thranta riders, find out if they saw something….”
Jaina sat up as cool dusk wind blew her straight brown hair around her face. “Ought to talk to the people at the SkyCenter construction site, too. Maybe the Ugnaught shift boss who got fired, if we can find him, and anyone else Cojahn had contact with.”
Zekk nodded. “We’ve got a lot of leads to follow, but at least Cloud City isn’t as big as a planet. How many places can there be to look?”
Anja stood up in disgust, putting her hands on her hips. Her piranha beetle tattoo stood out on her upper right arm. “We’ll never find anything even if we look. The explanation is pretty clear; it’s right in front of us. Lando just doesn’t want to admit that it could have been a suicide or even a simple accident.”
“And maybe it wasn’t,” Jacen said. “It’s up to us to find out.” He gave her a wry grin. “And believe me, we’ve solved greater puzzles than this before.”
“Right,” Jaina said. “So what are we waiting for?”
6
Jaina gasped in amazement as she walked into the Cloud Dance restaurant, where they had agreed to meet Lando for a morning meal—though with Bespin’s short daily cycle, any meal could have been a morning, midday, or evening meal.
The eating establishment was at one of the upper levels of the floating city, extending in a ring from a tall cylindrical tower. Transparisteel windowports gave a 360-degree view of the clouds, the sunrise, the passing cloud-car traffic, and a portion of the cluttered SkyCenter building site, which was covered by temporary screens and awnings.
With the exception of an opaque walkway around the perimeter of the circular room, the floor and ceiling were transparent as well. At the center of the room, a bubble of transparisteel rose from the floor. Inside it, clouds swirled and danced in ever-changing patterns, lit from above by multicolored glowpanels.
Lowie bounded past Jaina into the room with a triumphant woof, as if claiming the restaurant for himself.
Jaina chuckled. “Thought you’d like it. It’s your kind of place.”
“This is a fact,” said Tenel Ka, entering behind her.
“Hey, I’m starved,” Jacen said, rubbing a hand sleepily through his tousled brown curls.
Jaina gave her brother a playful punch in the arm. “You’ll get your food soon enough. What do you think of the view?”
Jacen took two steps forward. Jaina watched in amusement as the full impact of the view hit him and he looked around for something to hold on to.
Lowie crouched on the opaque walkway, staring down into the cloudy depths, barking enthusiastic comments. “Master Lowbacca wishes to assure you that—even if the food turns out to be dreadful—this is the finest establishment he has ever had the pleasure of dining in,” Em Teedee translated unnecessarily.
Lando entered, flashing a weary grin. “I can assure you, Lowbacca, that you’ll find the food here more than adequate. Glad you could all join me.” He glanced around at the assembled young Jedi. “At least most of you, that is.”
With a flash of irritation Jaina noted that Anja hadn’t bothered to show up on time. Neither had Zekk. Because of the sad-eyed young woman’s hard life, Jaina tried to make allowances for Anja’s brusque nature, but she found it difficult to understand the fascination she seemed to hold for Jacen and Zekk.
As quickly as the negative thoughts arose, Jaina squelched them, firmly forcing her mind to more pleasant thoughts. She noticed that a slight frown had creased her brother’s brow. “I’m sure they’ll both be here soon,” Jaina said.
Lando selected the table with the best view in the restaurant, and they all settled onto transparent repulsorbenches.
“Here’s Zekk now!” Jacen said, waving his friend over. “And Anja’s probably just out exploring. She gets up early most mornings, you know. She has an awful lot of energy.”
Lando’s brown eyes narrowed thoughtfully and he gave a slow nod. “I can well imagine.” He paused, carefully considering his words. “I know it looks tempting to have all that instant energy, but don’t let her talk you into trying any andris, all right? Spice can do a lot of damage in the long run, and once you’re hooked, well… I’ve known a couple people who tried to quit and didn’t make it.”
Jaina, Jacen, and the others exchanged confused glances. “What are you talking about?” Jacen asked. “Who said anything about spice?”
“Ah. Aha,” Tenel Ka said. “You believe Anja Gallandro is addicted to spice?”
Jaina bit her lower lip, stared at Lando in shock. Looking at the circle of serious faces around him, Lando spread his hands wide in apology. “I… I thought you knew. Believe me, I’ve run into this enough times that I recognize the symptoms: wide eyes with huge dilated pupils, excess energy, restlessness, large appetite but never seeming to gain any weight. Not to mention always looking for chances to get off alone and then coming back with a fresh burst of energy, and the pale, almost translucent skin, quick temper…”