Diversity Alliance

8

Everyone went their separate ways, but all wanted to see Bornan Thul safely back with his family. Uncle Tyko, confident in the new hyperspace jump randomization program Em Teedee had created, took off for Mechis III in an ornate, boxy ship the color of tarnished brass.

Immediately afterward, with the young Jedi Knights still in the docking bay, the Tradewyn and the rest of the hidden Bornaryn fleet made a hyperspace jump. As soon as the jump was complete, the little translating droid began busily “supervising” the Rock Dragon’s onboard navicomputer as it calculated the best route to Kuar.

Few things pleased Jaina more in the middle of a crisis than knowing she had a mission—and the means to accomplish it.

It felt good to be doing something, to be taking an active part in solving the mystery of Raynar’s vanished father. She and Lowie finished their preflight check in record time, while Jacen and Tenel Ka stowed supplies aboard the Rock Dragon.

When all of the preparations were finished, Aryn and Raynar came to the big flagship’s docking bay to see the companions off. Using a time-delay message transmission, they had already informed Luke Skywalker of the change of plans, and now the Rock Dragon was ready to begin the search.

Plainly, wishing he could go with his friends, Raynar took slow, deep breaths; Jaina could tell he was doing his best to keep the worry off his face. Lowie, seeing the young man’s distress, rumbled a few encouraging words and thumped him on the back with a huge furry hand.

“Don’t worry about us, Raynar,” Jacen said. “We’ll be careful.”

“Trust the Force, Raynar,” Tenel Ka said. “May it keep you safe.”

“You can leave this job to us,” Jaina added. “If there’s any clue to your father’s whereabouts in the ruins of Kuar, we’ll pick up the trail.” On impulse, she stepped forward and gave him a brief hug, much to Raynar’s surprise. Then, to cover her own embarrassment, she gave Aryn a quick hug, too.

“Well,” Jaina said gruffly, turning back toward the Hapan passenger shuttle and motioning everyone inside, “what are we waiting for?”

Once they left the merchant fleet behind, Jacen felt a subtle tension building inside him. He felt glad to be going along, but he didn’t have a purpose yet on this trip. Jaina and Lowbacca were able to direct their energies into piloting the Rock Dragon.

Tenel Ka searched for more information about the planet Kuar, punching queries into a datapad on her lap. But Jacen just waited around, with nothing important to do.

He didn’t like feeling at a loss. At first he considered just leaning over and reading along on Tenel Ka’s datapad, but he rejected that idea, afraid the distraction might annoy her. He had to think of something more substantial to occupy his thoughts.

He didn’t want her to think of him as a useless male, as so many of the men on Dathomir and Hapes were considered. He didn’t want to think of himself that way. He cast about the cockpit looking for some useful task, and his eyes lit on Em Teedee, who was plugged into the navigational control panel.

“Hey, Em Teedee?” he said at last. “As long as we have the time, let’s review everything we know about the disappearance of Bornan Thul. Can you keep a list for me?”

“Why certainly, Master Jacen,” the translating droid replied cheerfully. “I’m always happy to be of service.”

Jaina glanced over her shotrider and flashed her brother a grin. “Good idea. We can all listen in.”

Lowie growled the obvious—that Thul’s last known destination had been the meeting on Kuar and then he had disappeared enroute to Shumavar.

“Point noted,” Em Teedee said. “Next?”

“Well, we know he was in the middle of some tricky negotiations,” Jacen said. “Something about a political movement. The Diversity Alliance.”

“And that he was keeping the subject of those negotiations a complete secret,” Jaina added. “Dad was worried about them.”

“Excellent,” Em Teedee said. “Do go on.”

“The Twi’lek woman Nolaa Tarkona was somehow involved in the negotiations,” Tenel Ka said.

“Indeed. If I might add a point,” Em Teedee said, “in the rubble field of Alderaan we learned from the Slave-IV’s computer that Boba Fett was hired by Nolaa Tarkona herself. That would imply she doesn’t know where Bornan Thul is either, so we can logically dismiss the possibility that she somehow captured him or destroyed his ship.”

“That makes sense. Nice piece of work, Em Teedee,” Jacen said.

Lowie growled the observation that Bornan Thul might have been captured by someone else, or he might be in hiding—or even dead. In any case, it seemed as if half the bounty hunters in the galaxy were out looking for Raynar’s father. The Diversity Alliance had offered a lot of credits for the merchant’s recovery.

“The price must be high enough to risk dying for,” Jaina said with a shudder. “The bounty hunter in the High Roller seemed to think so.”

Jacen thought for a minute. “All those bounty hunters must be assuming that Bornan Thul disappeared voluntarily and doesn’t want to be found,” he said. “Otherwise, why go to such great lengths to get Raynar and Aryn as hostages?”

“Kusk and his brother must have intended to lure Thul from hiding using his family as bait,” Tenel Ka agreed.

“What else do we know?” Jacen mused.

“Well, if Thul is hiding, something must have happened to spook him,” Jaina observed, “and spook him badly.”

In a flash, an idea hit Jacen. “Hey, Em Teedee, access the news reports in the week leading up to the time Bornan Thul disappeared.”

“Why certainly, Master Jacen. What sort of news?”

Jacen shrugged. “I’m not sure. Look for anything big or significant that might have happened along the general route Bornan Thul would have taken between Kuar and the trade conference on Shumavar.”

“Dear me!” Em Teedee exclaimed. “I suppose that narrows it down a bit, but do you know how many systems there are?”

“Just do your best,” Jacen said.

“I always do, Master Jacen,” the droid replied. “One moment … ah, here’s something,” he said. “A double solar eclipse occurred on the fourth planet in the Deb-ray System.” The young Jedi exchanged glances. Finally Jacen said, “I don’t think that helps us any. What else do you have?”

Em Teedee made a noise that sounded oddly like gnashing teeth, then continued.

“There was a global election on Kath II,”—he paused briefly—“notable only for the fact that not a single human was elected to office, although fully one third of Kath’s population is human. The Diversity Alliance was campaigning heavily there.”

Lowie barked a comment. “Yes, very odd,” Em Teedee said.

“Probably won’t help us in our search, though,” Jaina said, raising her eyebrows and waiting.

“Please continue, Em Teedee,” Tenel Ka prompted.

“Mmm, odder still,” Em Teedee murmured after a short pause to retrieve more data. “It seems that contact was completely lost with an all-human colony on the planet Gammalin. No one has heard from them since the day after Bornan Thul’s appointment on Kuar was to have taken place.”

“Ah,” Tenel Ka said.

“Anything else?” Jacen asked.

“In all probability, yes, Master Jacen,” Em Teedee said. “Please be patient. I have fifteen thousand three hundred forty-two other files to search.”

Jacen leaned back in his seat and sighed.

The trip to Kuar was going to be a long one.