Darkest Knight

5

“Why, certainly, Master Lowbacca. I’d be happy to be of service in such a manner,” Em Teedee said as they approached Kashyyyk. “Calculation of that trajectory is really quite simple.”

Lowie accepted the finding from the little droid and input it manually on the Shadow Chaser’s control panel. Beside him, his uncle drew in a deep, happy breath when the rich brown-green planet appeared in the viewport, as if anticipating the tastes and smells and sounds of home. Despite the heavy heart with which he was returning, Lowie also felt a rush of excitement and pleasure. He would soon be in the safe, peaceful treetops of Kashyyyk.

“Well done, Masters Lowbacca and Chewbacca!” Em Teedee caroled. Lowie grunted an absentminded acknowledgment, still captivated by the sight of his planet. It looked much the same as it had on the day he left with his uncle and Han Solo in the Millennium Falcon to become a Jedi student. How long ago was it now?

Too long. Lowie’s yearning to see his family again became almost overwhelming. The two Wookiees worked at the piloting controls with an urgency that came from happy anticipation. As the Shadow Chaser approached the thick canopy below, Chewbacca pointed with a certain wistfulness toward the treetop city in which he and Lowie’s mother had grown up. With all of Chewie’s travels across the galaxy, Lowbacca wondered if his uncle ever felt as homesick as he himself occasionally did on Yavin 4. He knew Chewbacca would somehow find the time to visit his own city and the rest of his family in the next day or so.

Behind him, the twins and Tenel Ka uttered exclamations of admiration at the beauty of Kashyyyk and the size of the trees. “Even though I’ve been here before, I always forget how big they are,” Jaina murmured, pressing her fingers against the windowport.

“Impressive,” Tenel Ka agreed. “But where are the cities?” Chewbacca let the sleek ship dip a bit lower, and Lowie pointed to where clusters of high trees extended their crowns above the lower canopies. Nestled in the masses of thick branches, gleaming towers and platforms were visible, signs of habitation that folded into the natural formation of the trees. “Ah,” she said, sounding somewhat surprised. “Aha.”

“Neat, huh?” Jacen said, leaning closer to the warrior girl. “They like to make nature and technology work together.”

Lowie growled his agreement. “Master Lowbacca points out that technology and nature need not be mutually exclusive,” Em Teedee translated. “Blending the two can be more pleasant than separating them.”

When he finally caught sight of his home city, Lowie felt a renewed impatience. It was all he could do to keep himself from unbuckling his crash webbing while Chewbacca guided their damaged ship toward the nearest landing platform.

The moment the Shadow Chaser touched down, Lowbacca sprang from the copilot’s seat and rushed to the exit hatch. Through the cockpit window, he could see his family waiting for him on the platform—his father, Mahraccor; his mother, Kallabow; and his younger sister, Sirrakuk.

Lowie opened the hatch and stood in the sunlight for a split second, taking in every detail, sniffing the air, letting his eyes be bombarded by the rich greens and browns of the treetops. Then he and his family all roared greetings. His parents looked well and happy, if a little tired. His mother’s kind blue eyes, surrounded by auburn whorls of fur, shone with pride. The dark streak in his father’s fur showed no signs of graying with age.

Only his sister looked different—taller, sleeker and prettier than he had remembered her, but with a heavy sadness about her face. Sirra had trimmed her fur in unusual patterns, had shaved decorative designs around her head and arms. But her fangs were white and sharp, the fur around her nose and mouth well-groomed and long. She was definitely growing up.

His father raised both arms over his head and bellowed another greeting. Lowie roared back and ran toward them.

Jacen looked around the dining table in consternation, wishing for the tenth time that he understood the Wookiee language better. Ensconced between Lowie and Sirra, he looked across the table to where Jaina and Tenel Ka sat on either side of Chewbacca; he wondered if they felt as confused and overwhelmed as he did in the middle of the loud and incomprehensible dinner conversation.

Transparent mesh cages filled with swarms of tiny, luminescent bugs hung from the ceiling branches, providing a fuzzy, warm light. Exotic spices and incense wafted around the room and out the open window notches into the humid night. The air was thick with mouthwatering smells of the welcome meal Lowie’s parents had prepared.

The table was a huge slab of wood, a slice from a broad-boled tree: its hypnotic concentric rings indicated how long the tree had lived. All the chairs and furniture in Lowie’s home seemed overlarge, built for bodies much taller than the average human. Jacen shifted uncomfortably on the high bench at the table.

Something finally clicked in his head. “Hey, where’s Em Teedee?” he asked. “We could really use his translating skills here.”

Jaina flushed, her mouth forming a small “oh” of surprise. “I, um, guess that’s my fault,” she stammered. “I kind of borrowed him and hooked him up to the Shadow Chaser’s diagnostics so he could give us a readout of the parts we need to repair the ship.” She bit her lower lip. “I suppose it would have been more polite to wait until after we had had a chance to chat with Lowie’s family a while.”

Jacen shrugged and squeezed his eyes shut. He tried to concentrate in the new environment, to pick out individual words. But with five Wookiees barking, bellowing, growling, and roaring, it was difficult to make sense of their speech. He took a slow breath and tried to relax, planning to reach out with the Force to see if he could sense some meaning in the conversation.

Outside, Jacen could hear a warm afternoon rain running gentle fingers through the leaves of the stately wroshyr trees. Inside, the battle of tones continued, strange voices mixing with familiar ones. In the undertones, he felt joy and apprehension, hope and sorrow. He felt …

He felt the touch of a furry hand on his arm. Jacen looked up in embarrassment to find Lowie’s sister Sirra holding out a platter laden with roasted meats and vegetables. Sirra uttered a polite but curious woof.

“Blaster bolts! I’m sorry, is that plate for me?”

Lowie chuffed a laugh and then swept a hand around the table to indicate that everyone else had already been served. Each of the Wookiees’ plates was filled with coarsely chopped fresh meat and mounds of raw vegetables. Jaina had a platter of food similar to his own, while Tenel Ka’s held a mixture of vegetables and meats, both cooked and raw. Jacen was amused to note that Tenel Ka’s appetite reflected the conflicting preferences of her primitive and refined upbringings. Kallabow and Mahraccor had worked hard to accommodate the dietary preferences of their human guests. Jacen accepted the platter from Sirra and thanked her.

When the Wookiees all fell silent, expectant, and turned to Lowbacca, he held one furry hand over his plate of food as he crooned a few short phrases in a low voice. Jacen recognized the Wookiee ceremonial speech of thankfulness that he had heard from Chewbacca so often.

Lowie stood then, raised his arms high and spread his hands as if forming a protective leafy canopy over his family and friends, and repeated his brief speech. Lowie’s mother crooned a sad, low note.

A moment later, both Wookiees and humans attacked their food as if none of them had had a decent meal for weeks.

The next day, Jaina murmured something noncommittal and looked dubiously at the list that Em Teedee had downloaded to her datapad. Jacen and Tenel Ka sat near her in Lowie’s spacious room, which had been hollowed out from part of a massive wroshyr tree. Lowie disconnected the lead wires from the diagnostics panel, tucked them back into Em Teedee’s casing, and closed it with a snap. While Jaina and Lowie worked together to catalog the Shadow Chaser’s ills, Chewbacca had taken the opportunity to go to the other side of the planet to visit the rest of his family, whom he had not seen in some time.

A few leftover spatters of rain from another brief shower dripped outside the open window. Sirra sat with them, her patchy fur standing on end. She didn’t want to be alone, apparently, but she didn’t participate much in the conversation either.

“Take a look at this, Lowie,” Jaina said, holding up the datapad.

The Wookiee studied the list of ruined components with a thoughtful growl. Jacen and Tenel Ka crowded in to get a look as well. Jacen flashed his sister a mischievous grin. “Hard to believe that an itty-bitty ion storm could cause so much damage, huh?”

Jaina sent him a withering look. “If that furry pet of yours hadn’t chewed all the circuits—”

“Hey, that’s not fair! I’d never even seen her before we left Yavin 4.” Jacen removed the fluffy creature from the temporary cage he had made for her and her babies. The little eight-legged rodent seemed very pleased with her soft new nest. “She didn’t mean to cause any trouble—did you, Ion?”

He held the fluffy ball close to his face and stroked her with one finger. The tiny creature made a faint cooing sound. Jacen would set the rodent free when they returned to Yavin 4, but for now he would take good care of her.

“The fault was not Jacen’s,” Tenel Ka said in a mild voice. “And blaming the creature serves no purpose.”

Jaina shrugged one shoulder. “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. Just don’t let Chewie catch sight of that pesky little thing when he gets back tonight.”

Lowie handed the datapad back to Jaina with a confident bark. “Master Lowbacca believes that we can obtain most of these parts at the local fabrication facility, or create reasonable substitutes,” Em Teedee said.

Jaina felt hopeful. “You mean the factory where your parents work?”

“Blaster bolts,” Jacen said. “Are you sure? There’s a lot of stuff on that list. What do they make at the factory, anyway?”

Lowie gestured with his hands and growled an answer. Jaina could vaguely sense what he was saying. Em Teedee said, “The fabrication facility that employs Master Lowbacca’s parents, as well as most of the other inhabitants of this tree city, produces a variety of sophisticated computer equipment for use in a wide range of transportation applications.”

Jaina’s interest sharpened at the idea of a factory filled with exotic and complex systems.

“Like what?” Jacen asked, placing Ion back in her cage. The little rodent inspected her grubs, rooting around in her fuzzy nest.

After more of Lowie’s growling and gesticulating, Em Teedee said, “Among other things, the facility produces guidance control systems for planetary control towers, navigational subsystems and backups, tactical systems, communication encryption generators, multi-phasic—”

“Hey, I think we get the idea. Thanks, Em Teedee,” Jacen broke in.

Jaina tried to suppress a chuckle. Her ever-curious brother had gotten more explanation than he had bargained for. “Lowie, is there any way we can move the Shadow Chaser closer to your home so we can work on it more easily? The hangar bay where we stored it is way on the other side of the city. Not very convenient, if you know what I mean.”

Lowie shook his head, but growled a suggestion. “Master Lowbacca proposes—” Em Teedee began.

“Yeah, I think I got it,” Jaina said, struggling to understand a few of the Wookiee words. “We can pull out the damaged subsystems one or two at a time, bring them here to Lowie’s house, and work on ’em.” She beamed. “That’s a great idea. So what are we waiting for?”