Trouble on Cloud City

21

With the oppressive sounds and smells of the jungle moon around her once again, Anja did not know what she was going to do. She sat alone on a high stone ledge of the Jedi academy’s Great Temple. The chipped, weathered stone, covered with moss, felt cold and uncomfortable. But she didn’t care.

Anja stared out above the tangled forest to where the orange pastel ball of the gas giant planet Yavin dominated the sky. She felt trapped on this humid, overgrown moon—helpless. She hated to feel helpless. No one knew her secret, though she wasn’t sure how much it mattered now. She was at her wits’ end, torn between incompatible loyalties.

Yes, Anja had pretended to show surprise at the news that had so interested the young Jedi Knights, but in her heart she had greeted it only with a kind of stoic dread. As they had feared, Czethros had disappeared completely, draining all readily available credits from his accounts and shutting down his respectable warehouse and shipping business on Ord Mantell.

He had gone underground, vanished without a trace. New Republic troops had confiscated everything that remained in his stripped offices, while investigators searched for clues to his whereabouts… but Anja knew Czethros well enough. She was certain that the Black Sun lieutenant had left no loose ends, no evidence, no information through which he could be traced.

Czethros was gone. She had no way to contact him.

And her last precious supply of andris spice was almost gone!

What could she do when it ran out? She had no idea where she might obtain another supply. It wasn’t fair. She’d worked so hard, done all of the devious things Czethros had demanded of her. They’d had a partnership of a sort: he had requested small tasks of her, in return for which he had set her up with Han Solo and his children and given her the opportunity for her ultimate revenge.

But now, the moment the tide turned against him, Czethros had abandoned her. He had run, leaving her to fend for herself. Anja was certainly good enough at that. She’d taken care of herself all her life, since her father had died when she was an infant—shot by Han Solo.

Or had that truly happened? Anja was no longer certain. She had never wanted to believe that the great Gallandro, her father, might have been responsible for his own situation. She had wanted to find a scapegoat, someone to blame for his murder… and Han Solo had fit the bill perfectly. What better revenge could Anja take than to go after his children?

Czethros had been true to his word there, at least, but now she felt as if she’d been set adrift, abandoned….

Laughing, Jacen bounded out of the temple shadows and ran across the stone platform on the roof of the rebuilt Massassi temple. He skidded to a halt in surprise when he saw her sitting there alone, deep in thought.

“Hey, Anja!” Jacen said. “Zekk and Jaina and Lowie and Tenel Ka and I are going out into the jungles, do a little exploring. You want to come along? There’s plenty to see out there—the strangest plants and insects you’ve ever imagined. I’ll even show you a piranha beetle if you want. They look just like your tattoo.”

“No thanks,” she said automatically, without even thinking about her response.

With a beep and a twitter, Artoo-Detoo trundled out behind Jacen. The astromech droid flashed his sensor light, assessing the situation.

Jacen shrugged. “Okay, but remember, we want you to feel like you can participate in stuff that we’re doing. I know Uncle Luke doesn’t believe you have real Jedi potential, but that doesn’t matter. You can still learn. You can still improve yourself—your reactions, your abilities.”

“I know all that, Jacen,” she said snappishly. “I’ll make up my own mind, okay? No need to treat me like a baby.”

Jacen stepped back, startled. “Hey, I wasn’t treating you like a baby,” he said. “I was treating you like a friend.”

Then he turned and followed Artoo-Detoo back into the temple. The small droid twittered and gave a mournful whistle, as if scolding Anja. She just glared at the polished domed head as Artoo rolled back inside.

She stared out at the jungle again, her thoughts in turmoil.

Everything had been so clear until she’d gotten to know the Solo twins better. She hadn’t had any doubts in the beginning. Her resolve had been firm. Why was it so difficult now?

And did she really want Jacen and Jaina to be harmed in retaliation for something that had happened long ago to Gallandro, a man who—she had to face it—she’d never really met?

Czethros, her supposed mentor, might never show his face in open sunlight again. He would be too easily recognized. He was a hunted man now.

And that left her here, to continue the charade. Anja didn’t know what she could do in this place. She certainly didn’t want to be a Jedi! She reached down, picked up a pebble, and tossed it off the edge of the ziggurat toward the jungle. She watched as it fell into the underbrush below.

She already felt the hunger and the deep need for another dose of spice, but she would tolerate it for now. She could be strong. Anja had always been strong.

But she didn’t know how long she could last.

The simmering jungle sounds grew louder as she listened to them. The verdant jungle moon and Luke Skywalker’s Jedi academy seemed far, far away from anything else she had ever known.

“She’s not coming,” Jacen said, joining the other young Jedi Knights at the base of the Great Temple.

Jaina must have heard the note of dejection in his voice, because she put a comforting hand on his arm and said, “Anja probably wouldn’t enjoy exploring with us right now, anyway. She could probably use the time alone.”

“She seems kind of edgy since we got back,” Zekk agreed. “I’m sure it’s nothing personal.”

Lowie rumbled a suggestion.

“Indeed!” Em Teedee exclaimed. “I daresay we shall have an excellent time together if we make the attempt.”

“Ah. Aha.” Tenel Ka cleared her throat, then paused as if considering a very important topic. Her cool grey eyes met Jacen’s brandy-brown gaze. “Did you ever hear the story about the Jawa who mistook a rancor for a ronto?”

Jacen grinned and took her hand in his. “Yeah, I think so. But it’s a good one. Why don’t you tell it to us?”

Together, the friends walked toward the jungle.