Crisis at Crystal Reef

3

It was the start of as perfect a morning as Zekk could ever remember. Outside, bright sunshine poured down on the Jedi academy, and a fresh breeze carrying the scents of a thousand luscious jungle plants wafted in through the thick stone window openings. The young Jedi Knights were used to getting up very early, and today they had special reason, since Peckhum was due to leave.

At morning meal, Jaina greeted Zekk and Peckhum with a hug. There had been no mistaking the pride in her eyes when she saw the new lightsaber hanging at Zekk’s belt. “Looks like a fine weapon, Zekk. If you want a sparring partner later on, come see me.”

“After I show Master Skywalker.”

“Hey,” Jacen said as he sauntered in, grinning. “Two Gamorrean guards are walking down a narrow, deserted canyon when suddenly a rancor comes out and starts chasing them. One of the Gamorreans stops to put on his best running shoes. ‘Don’t waste time,’ shouts the other one, ‘you can’t outrun a rancor with those!’ ‘I don’t have to outrun a rancor,’ says the first one as he finishes lacing his shoes, ‘I just have to outrun you!’ ” A chorus of chuckles and groans rewarded him.

With additional jokes, Jacen was in rare form during the meal, and they all laughed so hard it was difficult not to choke as they ate. Tenel Ka offered a rare toast of friendship to the entire group seated at their table. Lowie surprised them all by presenting a dramatic Wookiee speech while Em Teedee provided hilariously inaccurate translations, which the companions now recognized with their increasing grasp of Lowbacca’s native language.

Jaina, sparkling with good humor, teased old Peckhum throughout the meal and squeezed Zekk’s hand under the table. The old spacer laughed and enjoyed the attention.

Even when it was time for Peckhum to go, Zekk’s mood could not be dampened. “I’m sorry you couldn’t meet Anja,” he told the spacer. “I knocked on the door to her quarters, but she didn’t answer. Must be keeping to herself again. She’s got … a lot of things to work out in her head. Besides, her communication skills aren’t always the greatest.”

As they left the temple and walked through the dim corridors leading out, old Peckhum gave Zekk a mock stern look. “Speaking of, uh, communication skills—if I hadn’t switched schedules with another freighter pilot so that I could come to Yavin 4 and visit my favorite Jedi trainee, I might not’ve heard about your progress for another month. You didn’t mention you were going to build a lightsaber last week when I talked to you.”

Zekk hunched his shoulders. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I guess maybe I was afraid I’d fail. There was always a chance that I might build a faulty weapon and I’d have to throw it away and start all over. Worse, I thought maybe the wrong kind of blade might try to draw me back toward the dark side.”

The old spacer gave a thoughtful nod. “I understand that, but don’t forget that you can trust me. I’d like to know whenever something important is going on in your life. I’m always willing to rearrange my schedule so I can share a special occasion with you.”

Jaina snorted. “And you can put that nonsense about going over to the dark side behind you, Zekk.”

“Thanks for trusting me,” Zekk said in a low voice as they all emerged into the sunlight in front of the Jedi academy. “That trust was what gave me the strength to leave the dark side for good.”

“The trust of friends is rare and important,” Tenel Ka observed. Lowie crooned his agreement.

They walked down the temple steps toward the landing field. Several New Republic soldiers milled about taking readings at a freshly scorched spot on the ground. A group of assorted investigators stood inside the small craft bay on the pyramid’s lowest level, talking in urgent tones with the night-shift guard who had been on duty the evening before.

Preoccupied with the old man’s departure, the companions began walking across the grass with Peckhum toward the Thunderbolt. Suddenly, Zekk stopped and turned back to the burned, empty spot on the landing field. His mouth fell open. He blinked in confusion. “You didn’t have to move my ship inside, Jaina. I would have done it myself. Of course, I know that flying a ship is never hard work for you, but—”

“No,” Jaina said. “I haven’t been anywhere near the Lightning Rod this morning.”

“Something’s wrong,” Jacen said.

Old Peckhum looked curiously at the spot where his former ship had been when he arrived the day before. But the Lightning Rod was nowhere to be seen.

“Ah,” Tenel Ka said in a matter-of-fact voice. “Aha.”

Jacen drew a deep breath, let it out slowly. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

Inside the shadows of the small craft bay, Luke Skywalker left the other members of the investigative team and marched purposefully toward Zekk. The dark-haired young man felt a cold twist in his stomach as his suspicions grew. Master Skywalker looked directly into his green eyes.

“Zekk, I’m afraid Anja has taken your ship.”

Later, after Peckhum’s tight schedule had forced him to leave, the young Jedi gathered in Luke Skywalker’s office. Jaina squirmed as she watched a storm of emotions cross Zekk’s face. “Anja stole the Lightning Rod!” he said through gritted teeth. “She ran away from the Jedi academy.”

Luke nodded patiently. “She caught the hangar guard by surprise and took off before any of the orbital forces could stop her.”

Zekk went on, fuming. “Anja is a thief, and I want my ship back. What are we going to do about it? We’ve got to find her.”

Jaina cleared her throat. “We could, um, ask Mom and Dad to send out some security forces. Maybe they can track down the Lightning Rod, wherever Anja’s taken it?”

“Or they could probably issue some bulletins to the authorities on various planets….” Jacen’s voice trailed off.

Luke raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips, waiting for a full minute of silence before he spoke. “As for Anja leaving the Jedi academy, that is her choice. Not only is she an adult, she’s not exactly a Jedi. We can’t stop her from leaving if she wants to.”

“But she can’t take my ship to do it,” Zekk said.

“No. That’s true enough. But first—” he spread his hands and gazed around at his assembled students “—you tell me. Is she a criminal or a friend? Would you like to have her arrested?”

Zekk squirmed at the Jedi Master’s question. “Too bad we can’t still send people to the spice mines of Kessel,” he grumbled.

Each of the young Jedi shook their heads in turn.

“Incarceration would serve no purpose,” Tenel Ka said. “I believe she must have been desperate.”

Jaina looked down at her hands in her lap. “And I think we all know why she was desperate.”

Lowie woofed an observation. Jacen nodded and in a low voice said, “Spice.”

“She was going through withdrawal,” Zekk said, meeting Master Skywalker’s eyes.

“Do you believe she intends to keep your ship—or even sell it?” Luke asked. “In order to get credits to buy spice?”

Jaina was surprised when they all reacted instantly. Lowie bellowed a protest. “Indeed not!” Em Teedee added.

“She wouldn’t do that. I think she’s planning to bring it back,” Jacen said in a confident voice.

Jaina bit her lower lip. “I have a feeling she’s in more trouble than we know.”

Luke stood. “Then I’d say this isn’t exactly a job for New Republic security. Don’t you think this is a situation that her friends, five Jedi Knights—not to mention one extremely talented droid—could handle on their own?”

They all agreed, and the Jedi Master left them alone to discuss the details.

“At least we’ve got the Rock Dragon,” Jaina said. “She’s a good fast ship.”

“But how do we find her? We can hardly go running from system to system with a large holograph asking, ‘Have you seen this girl?’” Jacen pointed out.

Lowie gave a long grumble. “Master Lowbacca suggests that perhaps we could consult with some of the guardian forces stationed in orbit around this moon.”

“They might have tracked the Lightning Rod’s initial vector,” Jaina agreed.

Zekk shrugged. “I’ll take any lead we can get.”

Within five minutes the companions all stood in the comm center. On half of the screen, a weary-eyed officer who was obviously off-duty rubbed a hand over his eyes. The other half of the screen displayed a starmap.

“I’m sorry,” the shift officer said, “we tried to scan the ship’s navicomputer before it went into hyperspace, but the most we were able to determine was that the Lightning Rod was heading for one of the systems in this sector. It still covers hundreds of planets, though.” Glowing white lines appeared around a segment of space in the starmap. “I’ve got a team on it.”

“Hey, thanks,” Jacen said, trying to sound enthusiastic. “You’ve been a big help.” The portion of the screen that held the officer’s face went blank, leaving only the starmap.

Tenel Ka’s cool gray eyes narrowed suddenly, as if something important had just occurred to her. “Jacen, my friend, what joke did Anja attempt to make yesterday when you sensed she was going through withdrawal?”

He shrugged. “I can’t remember her exact words. Something about Kessel, but I don’t see what that has to do—oh!”

Jaina said, “Under stress, it’s not unusual for people to joke about what’s really on their minds.”

“Zekk also mentioned the spice mines,” Tenel Ka pointed out. “Perhaps because of Anja’s addiction, or because of her joke.”

A slow grin spread across Zekk’s face. He pointed toward the starmap still covering half the screen. “And Kessel just happens to be right in the middle of that sector.”