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Chapter Nine
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JACEN AWOKE to darkness so thick that one could have cut it
with a knife. He opened and closed his eyes several times,
but couldn't even tell whether they were open or shut.
Something was humming steadily in the background, something
that sounded almost as if a swarm of Yavin IV's piranha
beetles were nearby.
That thought made him practically fly out of his bunk, with
the result that he slammed his head into a hard, cold
surface above himself. Rubbing his head, he considered the
situation. If there were somehow piranha beetles nearby, he
had a serious problem indeed.
Then, finally, he let out a nervous laugh. "Room, lights
full," he ordered, and the bunkroom was instantly bathed in
light. There were no piranha beetles--the humming was that
of the _Rock Dragon's_ machinery, propelling them through
hyperspace toward Dathomir.
He quickly swung his feet off the bunk. The entire week
before they had left Yavin IV they had been preparing, and
that entailed a lot of work. First they cleaned up and
sealed their quarters, which took a couple of days. Then
they'd had to stock, fuel, and prepare the _Rock Dragon,_
which took several more days. And the trip to Dathomir from
Yavin IV was another day and a half because of the route
that had to be used, which had plenty of obstacles in the
way.
Once Jacen had finished dresing, he stepped outside the
bunkroom and walked toward the transport's small hold. He
found everyone sitting around a holotable off to the side.
"Playing Dejarik again, sis? How badly did you get beaten
this time?"
Jaina turned to face him, a triumphant smile on her face. "I
didn't." She stood up and stretched. "I was wondering when
you would wake up, anyway. We're about half an hour from
Dathomir now."
"That close, huh?" he asked, a mildly surprised expression
across his face. As she nodded her agreement, he sat down at
the end of the bench and watched the current game between
Lowbacca and Tenel Ka. "I'll play the winner," Jacen offered
after some time.
"You?" his sister chortled in amusement. "I thought you
hated dejarik."
He shrugged. "Maybe I do, but it's better than nothing."
"You won't have enough time," Tenel Ka finally said during
one of Lowie's turns, her eyes focused on the board as the
Wookiee made his move. "Ah. Aha." She tapped the controls
briefly, and one of her smallest holographic characters
jumped across the table, knocking down a much larger
character. Lowbacca urfed in surprise as the redhead leaned
back contentedly.
"You were focusing too much on offense," she offered.
"Anyway, I believe we only have about five minutes left.
Would anyone care to come to the cockpit?"
Five minutes later, the cockpit of the _Rock Dragon_ was at
its maximum rated capacity, with all four seats filled. The
cockpit, located at the very front of the transport, had a
viewing arc that was completely unobstructed--unlike that of
the _Millenium Falcon,_ whose loading mandibles blocked a
good portion of the view. Presently, the viewport was
displaying one of the oddities of hyperspace, a swirling
maelstrom of blueshifted light that seemed to defy
conventional astrophysics.
Not that its occupants were interesteed in the view, of
course. They were no strangers to hyperspace travel, and had
seen that 'sky' any number of times. Of course, they were
somewhat concerned about where the undefined lanes of
hyperspace were taking them; Jaina's hand rested above the
manual override, "just in case" as her father had said so
many times. Even so, there was really no danger of navicomp
failure.
"Right on schedule," Jaina reported as the navicomputer
pulled them out of hyperspace. They were instantly greeted
by a multicolored orb that seemed to hang in space--
Dathomir. Dominated by browns owing to its mostly desert-
like terrain, the planet had large patches of blue scattered
across its surface. High clouds obscured a third of the
visible area, although Tenel Ka didn't have to see it to
know what was there.
Tenel Ka was silent for the longest time as Jaina began
running their approach vector through the navicomp. It had
been almost two years since she had visited her home; she
wondered how much it had changed in the time she had been
away. Probably not by much, she eventually decided. Although
there had been radical thinkers since the planet's
incorporation into the New Republic--the Shadow Academy's
ill-fated Nightsisters were among them--none of them had
lasted for very long. Her mother's clan, the Singing
Mountain clan, was indeed the largest and strongest on
Dathomir.
The planet below seemed to spin in place as the transport
rolled so as to be right-side upon entering the atmosphere.
The twisted remains of Warlord Zsinj's orbital shipyards
flashed by, seemingly streaked by the speed of their
descent, and after several seconds had passed they were
arrowing through Dathomir's sky. Although none of them could
see it yet, their target was a deep canyon that, because of
strong winds, was the safest air approach to the fortress.
Less than a minute later, the _Rock Dragon_ set down on the
valley floor, overshadowed by the sheer wall of the
fortress. Tenel Ka noted with mild interest that there were
some modern orbital defense turbolasers positioned on the
turrets overlooking them. The last time she had visited, a
team of Hapan engineers had been working on something, but
she never had a chance to find out what it was. At least she
knew now.
"I take it we're there?" a voice beside her said,
interrupting her thoughts. She turned and saw that it was
Jacen, realizing after a moment had passed that he'd never
actually visited Dathomir.
"Uh..." Tenel Ka paused to collect herself. "Mostly there."
She pointed out the viewport at the base of a stair that
wound up the sheer wall. "We still have to climb that."
His jaw dropped. "How many steps is that? A thousand?"
"Roughly," she replied, smiling slightly as she saw his
reaction. "It was an old protection against invasion,
although not always effective."
"I suppose it keeps your clan in shape," Jacen managed to
joke. "Anyway, if it's that far, shouldn't we be getting
started?"
* * *
"Tarb!" The voice from the cockpit was almost a shout. "Get
up here and have a look at this!"
The Twi'lek stumbled into the cockpit moments later, still
blinking to clear his eyes. "What happened?"
"The navicomputer pulled us out of hyperspace for a course
change but promptly crashed. I've been trying to bring it
back up for the past hour."
"And you called me in here because of that?" Tarb asked,
starting to sound annoyed.
"No," Cathi, his copilot and navigator, replied as she
pointed toward the sensor displays. "I called you up here
because of this." She switched the cockpit holodisplay on,
and instantly the slightly blurry image of an Imperator-
class Star Destroyer appeared.
Tarb drew in a sharp breath through his pointed teeth.
"Imperials? Here?"
Cathi paused a moment to consider. It would be unusual for
them to intrude so deeply into Republic territory,
especially considering the nonagression treaty that the
Remnant had signed. "I don't think so. They're not
broadcasting any IFF, which is unusual for both the
Imperials and the Republic."
"Pirates, then?" the Twi'lek smuggler suggested.
"That's what I'm guessing," Cathi replied, throwing a
cursory glance to the holo.
Tarb muttered under his breath in his native language before
switching back to Basic. "And here we are, sitting mostly
immobile and with a full load of ryll. Is there any other
good news?"
The human shrugged. "I told you a few weeks ago that we
needed to run some full diagnostics on the navicomp."
He glared back at her. "I'll take over from here. Why don't
you go into the hold and get the spice ready to dump if we
have to?"
Cathi shrugged as she stood to leave. "Whatever."
Tarb leaned back into his seat and let out a long breath,
staring at the sensor display, which showed the Star
Destroyer getting closer. Almost from the start, he'd
regretted his decision to partner with Cathi in smuggling.
Yes, she was capable, but she was also a smartass and
generally a pain to work with. Plus he also had to split his
profits with her, which was also galling. He could get a
droid to do the same job just as well...
Yes. That was it. He'd get rid of her, right now in fact,
and blame it as a mechanical accident in case anyone asked.
She'd probably die anyway when the pirates attacked.
Reaching for his keys, he unlocked a hidden compartment
beneath his seat and pulled out one of several blaster
pistols, then started toward the cargo hold...
As she affixed another remote detonator pack to one of the
spice crates, Cathi heard quiet footsteps coming down the
hallway. "Tarb?" she inquired without looking. "What's the
matter?"
"The Star Destroyer went to hyperspace for some reason," the
Twi'lek lied. "I came back here to tell you that you could
stop."
"Oh." She carefully deactivated the detpack and placed it
atop the spice crate, then turned around--
--to find herself staring directly into the barrel of Tarb's
blaster. "W-wait, what happened?" she stammered.
"Your contract's ended," he replied as he tightened his grip
on the pistol.
"Hold on!" she uselessly tried to protest. "Couldn't you
just let me off on Nar Shadda or something?"
"No, I'm sorry," Tarb said with a toothy grin. "It wouldn't
work. You know too much about me." He began to pull back on
the trigger as her mind raced...
... when the ship suddenly lurched as if from a turbolaser
blast, throwing Tarb off balance and sending his shot wild.
Her adrenaline kicking in, Cathi lunged for him and swatted
his blaster arm aside. The Twi'lek was nobody's fool,
though, and as she brushed past his head he used his
sharpened teeth to tear a gash across her arm. She screamed
in pain, and promptly punched him full in the face, breaking
his nose.
Breathing heavily, Tarb threw her off and tried to bring his
blaster to bear again, but she swung out from her prone
position, brought her boot behind his knee, and kicked hard.
There was a sharp crack as the bones broke, sending him
sprawling. He still clutched the blaster in his hand, and
let off an accidental shot that brushed past her.
Cathi dove for the blaster, but the Twi'lek rolled over and
hit her in the face with its butt. She cried out and
redoubled her efforts, landing an elbow in one of Tarb's
sensitive head-tails. In reaction to the pain, his grip on
the blaster relaxed slightly, which she then kicked out of
his hand. With the Twi'lek in hot pursuit, she scrambled
over to where the blaster had landed, picked it up, and
fired just as he lunged for her.
Her shot hit him in his right shoulder instead of his chest,
where she would have preferred to hit. Cathi struggled to
her feet, his teeth tearing through the leg of her pants and
into her leg. Gritting her teeth, she quickly set the
blaster on stun and fired down at him. As the stun blast
wreaked havoc on his nervous system, his grip on her leg
relaxed and she tore free, bleeding all over.
The woman thought for a moment about what to do with him,
and finally started dragging his limp form back to the
cockpit, where she shoved him into the ship's only escape
pod. After hitting the release switch and firing the pod
into space, she finally turned around and looked out the
forward viewport.
"Oh, kriff."
* * *
By the time the four Jedi reached the top of the stairway,
Jacen was wishing that he'd brought a speeder bike or
something. He was already exhausted from the walk, and beads
of sweat dripped down his face. A quick glance at Tenel Ka
told him that although she might have been tired, she
definately wasn't showing it.
At the door, they were met by two athletic young women,
dressed in the same style as Tenel Ka. When they saw her,
they nodded and let the group in.
"We should see my great-grandmother first," Tenel Ka said as
they walked through the fortress. "She will likely welcome
us."
Too thirsty to speak, Jacen merely nodded and followed her
through the maze of passages inside the fortress until they
came to what he assumed was the chamber of the Council of
Sisters. As they stepped inside, everybody came to their
feet, and a very old woman at the far end came to her feet.
"You have returned, Tenel Ka Chume Ta' Djo," the old woman,
who Jacen immediately realized was Augwynne Djo, said in a
motherly tone. "How are you?"
"I am fine," Tenel Ka simply replied as Augwynne walked over
and embraced her.
The matriarch turned her attention to the rest of the Jedi.
"And these are...?"
"Jacen, Jaina and Lowbacca," she responded as she pointed
them out.
"Ah, so this is that handsome young man you told me about,"
Augwynne Djo said as she looked Jacen over. He was painfully
aware of the fact that his face was turning crimson as the
wizened old matriarch spoke, and hurriedly attempted to run
through a relaxation technique. Although it was successful,
he realized that he hadn't been fast enough as she noticed
the look on his face.
"Don't be ashamed, young man. Tenel Ka has excellent tastes
in whom she chooses. You're the first man she has captured."
Jacen realized that his face was probably as red as Tenel
Ka's hair by this point. He bowed his head and let out a
slight chuckle, then looked back up in an attempt to regain
face. "I am honored," he replied simply.
"As well you should be. Now, my daughter's granddaughter,"
she turned to Tenel Ka, "do you wish to have a marriage
ceremony performed while you are here?"
Lowie let out what might have been the Wookiee equivalent of
a chuckle, while a look of horror came across Tenel Ka's
face. After a long, awkward pause, she burst out into peals
of laughter. "Great-grandmother! I have no plans to wed
Jacen. He is merely an old friend from the Jedi Academy."
"Ah, pardon my misunderstanding, Tenel Ka," Augwynne
replied. "I had forgotten that you dislike many of the old
customs. Still, one could say that there is more to the two
of you than meets the eye."
The two Jedi exchanged nervous glances as Augwynne cleared
her throat. "What is your full name, young man?"
"Jacen Solo," he nervously replied.
A look of puzzlement came across her face. "Are you related,
then, to Han Solo?"
"He's my father."
Augwynne chuckled softly. "Then you must know that your
mother was made an honorary member of our clan."
Jacen's eyebrows shot up. "No, I didn't," he admitted.
She continued. "And that your mother's brother was actually
captured by my granddaughter--Tenel Ka's mother--for
marriage?"
His jaw dropped slightly, and he shook his head.
Augwynne smiled again. "It does not matter too much now,"
she said. “Teneniel, as you know, married Isolder from
Hapes. Because of that, we are now part of the Hapes
Consortium, and thankfully supported by them.”
She turned to face Tenel Ka again. “So, daughter, what
brings you back here?”
“We are going to meet with a fighter squadron led by a Jedi,
then continue on to investigate some strange attacks in the
Outer Rim.”
“Explain.”
Tenel Ka paused for a moment. "There has been a string of
attacks on planets and ships through the Outer Rim, but
nobody knows what's been causing them. That's what we're
going to try and figure out."
“A dangerous task," Augwynne mused. "How long will you be
staying here before you leave?"
“Less than a week," Jaina replied, feeling somewhat left
out. "Perhaps five days."
"Ah," The matriarch nodded. "In that case, you are most
welcome to stay and rest. I believe you will need it."
* * *
So, Cathi realized as a white docking bay loomed ever
closer, Tarb had lied about the Star Destroyer. As if it was
very surprising considering everything else that had
happened so far.
As she watched, the comm suddenly came to life, nearly
causing her to hit her head on a control panel. "Attention
unidentified freighter, this is the Imperial Star Destroyer
_Magistrate_. This is your last chance to respond before you
will be forcefully boarded."
Cathi quickly hit the switch, and did her best to sound
intimidated, even though she wasn't really that scared. "I
copy, _Magistrate_." She paused. The only thing that really
worried her was the load of first-grade ryll spice aboard--
enough to get her landed in prison or even executed on most
planets. Although she was now even more afraid, she put on a
more normal tone. "Actually, I'm kind of glad you found me.
I was having some serious problems with my navicomputer."
The controller on the other end seemed to be taken slightly
aback by her change of attitude. "That will be discussed
once you are taken into our custody. In the meantime, you
will drop your shields and prepare for boarding. If you do
not resist, you will not be harmed."
“I copy.” Cathi looked about herself nervously. There was
still the blaster pistol in her hand; it wouldn't do for the
Imperials to take that. She knew that Tarb had kept a secret
locker beneath his seat, but the key...
She nearly hit herself in the head. She'd fired him out in
the escape pod, and hadn't bothered to remove that stuff
first. Oh well; if and when she got back to civilization
she'd have a new key made. Maybe there was somewhere else
she could store it...
Naturally, she realized. There were other smuggling
compartments that she had helped to build into the ship. In
a flash, she was heading down the corridor toward one of the
shielded compartments, where she deposited the blaster
before returning to the cockpit.
Once back in the cockpit, she dropped the shields and
extended the landing gear. There wasn't any sense in
antagonizing the Imperials when you were this much at their
mercy. A drawn-out shudder informed her that the ship had
been deposited on the deck of the hangar, and she quickly
hit the switch to drop the loading ramp, then put the ship
into standby.
“Come out with your arms up,” the amplified voice of a
stormtrooper barked outside. She complied and slowly walked
down the ramp, where two of the troopers immediately put
cuffs on her. The rest of the team marched into the
freighter, and her heart sank.
Several minutes later, the team returned and handed their
commanding officer a datapad. He glanced over its contents,
then nodded at the two troopers restraining Cathi. “Place
her in Detention for now. I'm sure the Commodore will be
interested in this.”
Cathi was surprised when, less than an hour after she had
been given medical treatment and put in a holding cell, the
door slid open. She looked up and noticed that the
stormtroopers who had opened the door were high-ranking
ones, at least judging by the color of their pauldrons. And
standing behind them... a _Chiss_? She blinked in surprise
at the person's appearance. He had to be a Chiss; there was
no other way to explain his blue skin and the eyes that
seemed to shine with a brilliant red. Judging by his rank
cylinders, he also had the rather lowly rank of Commodore,
which was a far cry from the only other Chiss officer she'd
heard existed in the Imperial Navy. She mentally shrugged.
You saw strange things everyday as a smuggler.
The Commodore stepped inside of the cell, bowing his head to
keep from banging it on the door. She studied him as he
stopped, noting the air that he kept about himself.
He held up the datapad which she'd seen the stormtrooper
sergeant take from his squad, and begin looking at it. “My
information tells me that you are Cathi Riclin, standard age
25, and copilot of the light freighter _Headwind_,” he
began.
“Correct.”
“It also tells me that you were carrying two metric tons of
first-grade ryll spice, packed into six crates.”
She nodded. “Also correct.”
He continued. “I am also sure that you know the penalty for
smuggling spice in both the Republic and Empire is life in
prison or death.”
“Yes,” she replied with a note of hesitance. Why was he
telling her all this?
“Allow me to introduce myself,” the Chiss commodore
continued. “I am Commodore Mantrel, and I am commander of a
small taskforce of which this Star Destroyer is the
flagship.”
She raised an eyebrow. It was fairly common knowledge that
the amount of Star Destroyers left in the Remnant proper had
dropped to below 200. To still control one was considered
nothing short of amazing.
“You may wonder why I am speaking to you instead of
attending to other duties. The reason is this: I am going to
let you go free with your ship. Without the spice, of
course.”
She felt her jaw drop slightly in shock. “Why?” she managed.
“Well, I see you're a resourceful woman. We retrieved the
escape pod that you launched before being boarded, and have
the captain of your vessel in bacta and awaiting further
interrogation. It seems that he tried to kill you, but you
managed to disarm and stun him. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“I will let you draw your own conclusions concerning my
motives, then. But for now, you are free again. I would
highly recommend that you leave as soon as possible. Our
engineers have already finished repairing your navicomputer,
so you will not have any problems departing.”
“Thank you,” she managed.
“It is but a small favor. You will also find a very small
gift inside your ship, one that will hopefully support you
for a time.” He turned and stepped outside the cell, then
talked to the two stormtroopers. One came in and promptly
escorted her out. Her head was swimming.
Uneventfully, she boarded her ship and began the warmup, and
ran through the steps that they had given her before she
left.
Finally, she tapped the comm. “Star Destroyer _Magistrate_,
this is the freighter _Headwind_ requesting permission to
leave.”
A moment later, the reply came. “Permission granted,
_Headwind_. Do not stray from appointed flight path.”
“Affirmative.” She eased back on the controls, and the YT-
2400 freighter glided out of the bay and into space. When
she was clear, she increased the throttle and wondered what
to do next.
The realization hit her like a thunderbolt. With the loss of
the spice (not to mention Tarb) the Twi'lek clans would
likely put out a large bounty for her.
She quickly came to a decision. Closing her eyes, she
started tapping the coordinate input for the navicomputer at
random. When it beeped, she stopped and reached for the
manual hyperdrive activators, then pulled back.
It was better to be lost forever in hyperspace than to be
captured and forced to work in the Ryloth spice mines, she
reflected as pseudomotion caused the stars to streak as the
ship entered hyperspace. At least death this way was
painless.
