The Lost Ones

8

As Zekk hurried through the night streets of Imperial City, heading away from the palace, he took back stairways and crossed alley catwalks, wanting to see no one. Overhead, blinking lights from shuttles taxiing across the atmosphere fought through a blurring mist of condensed moisture from roof exhaust vents. The city’s myriad lights and its sprawling landscape of skyscrapers extending beyond the horizon taunted him with the knowledge that, despite the millions upon millions of inhabitants, he was totally alone.

After the evening’s miserable escapades, he felt as if a marquee droid was hovering over his head, broadcasting to everyone that Zekk was a clumsy fool, an embarrassment to his friends. What had he been thinking—trying to fit in with important society, mingling with ambassadors and diplomats, making friends with the children of the Chief of State? Who was he to spend time with such people?

He looked at his feet for something to kick, finally spotted an empty beverage container, and lashed out with his boot, a boot he had spent time polishing so he would look good in front of his so-called friends. The container clattered and bounced against a duracrete wall, but to Zekk’s frustration it refused to break.

He kept his gaze turned downward, to the shadows and the clusters of garbage in the gutter. He shuffled aimlessly, wandering the back streets, not caring where he might end up. The lower world of Coruscant was his home. He knew it well, and he could survive here—which was good, because it looked as if he would be stuck in this gloomy place for the rest of his life. There was no hope, no chance for advancement. He simply wasn’t the equal of those people who could look forward to a bright future—people like Jaina and Jacen.

Zekk was a nobody.

He saw a group of merchants closing up their kiosks for the night, chatting cordially with the New Republic guards who patrolled the streets. Zekk didn’t want to go near them, didn’t want any company whatsoever. He slipped into a public turbolift and punched a button at random, descending nineteen floors and emerging in a dimmer section of the city.

Old Peckhum had already gone up to the mirror station on his tour of duty, so even Zekk’s home would be empty and uninviting. He’d have to spend the night alone, trying to keep amused with games or entertainment systems … but nothing sounded at all interesting.

He could wander around for as long as he liked, so he decided to enjoy it. No one would tell him to go to bed, no one would admonish him for going places where he wasn’t allowed, no one would breathe down his neck.

He smiled thinly. He had a freedom Jaina and Jacen didn’t have. When they were out exploring and having fun, the twins constantly checked their chronometers, making sure they would be back home at the appointed time, never making allowances for unexpected circumstances. They certainly didn’t want to give their protocol droid a burned worry circuit by not following their explicit orders. The twins were prisoners to their own schedules.

What did it matter if Zekk didn’t know all the manners a life in the diplomatic court required? Who cared if he didn’t understand which eating implement to use, or what the appropriate phrase of gratitude was when speaking to an insectoid ambassador? He snorted with derision. He wouldn’t want to live like Jaina and Jacen. No way!

As he wandered along the abandoned corridors, purposely scuffing his toes against the floor plates, he paid no attention to the thickening shadows, to the oppressive silence that surrounded him. He sniffed and clenched his teeth in remembered humiliation. He didn’t care about any of that. Zekk was his own person, independent—just the way he liked it.

Overhead, the glowpanels flickered intermittently; those at the far end of the corridor had completely burned out. A skittering sound in the ceiling ducts signaled the passage of a large and clumsy rodent. Ahead he heard another rustling sound, something even bigger.

Zekk looked up with a gasp to see a tall figure, darker than the inky shadows, step out in front of him. “Well, what have we here?” a syrupy voice said, deep and powerful.

The figure stepped closer, and Zekk could see a tall woman with eyes that flashed a burning violet. She wore a glittering black cloak with shoulder spines like defensive armor. Long black hair flowed around her like wire-thin snakes. Her skin was pale, her lips a deep crimson. She tried to smile, but the expression looked foreign on her face.

“Greetings, young sir,” she said, her voice oozing persuasion. “I require a moment of your time.” When she stepped more fully into the light, Zekk noticed that the woman walked with a pronounced limp.

“I don’t think so … ,” he said, backing up and turning around just as two sinister figures emerged from the side corridors: a compact woman with light brown skin and wavy bronze hair and a shadow-faced young man with dark bushy eyebrows.

“Just one moment of your time, boy. Vilas and Garowyn here will make sure you don’t do anything foolish,” the dangerous-looking woman said. She limped closer to him. “I am Tamith Kai, and we need to perform a test on you. It won’t hurt a bit.” Zekk thought he detected a tone of disappointment in her voice.

The young man Vilas and the short, bronze-haired woman grabbed him from behind. Instantly, Zekk struggled, thrashing and shouting out loud. The strangers didn’t seem bothered by how much noise he made, and Zekk knew with a sinking certainty that cries for help were not at all uncommon in these abandoned levels—although brave rescuers were.

Zekk tried to yank his arms free from the clawlike grasp of his captors, but to no avail. Tamith Kai withdrew a strange device from the black folds of her cape. Unraveling wires connected to a pair of flat crystalline paddles, she switched on an additional power grid. A high-pitched hum vibrated through the machine case.

“Leave me alone!” Zekk lashed backward with his foot, hoping to deliver a sharp blow to sensitive shins.

“Be careful,” Tamith Kai said to her colleagues with a meaningful scowl. “Some of them can be dangerous when they kick.”

She leaned closer and waved the humming crystal paddles around his body, scanning him. His heart pounding with fear, Zekk gritted his teeth and squeezed his emerald eyes shut. To his surprise, he felt no tingling energy; no burning analytical beam sliced through his skin.

Tamith Kai withdrew, and Garowyn and Vilas leaned over Zekk’s bony shoulders to observe the readings. Still struggling, Zekk caught a glimpse of the glowing image, a colorful aura projected in a micro-hologram.

“Hmmm, surprising,” Tamith Kai said. “Look at the power he has.”

“A good find,” Garowyn agreed. “Quite fortunate.”

“Not fortunate for me!” Zekk snapped. “What do you want?”

“You’ll be coming with us,” Tamith Kai said. Her tone was filled with confidence, as if she didn’t care about his objections.

“I’m not going anywhere with you!” Zekk shouted. “No matter what you found, I won’t—”

“Oh, just stun him,” Tamith Kai said impatiently, turning about on her stiff leg and limping back down the shadow-shrouded corridor. “He’ll be easier to carry that way.”

Vilas released his grip on the boy’s arms, and Zekk tried to run, knowing this was his last chance … but arcs of blue fire looped out, engulfing him and slamming him down into unconsciousness.