Return to Ord Mantell

10

After a strangely restless night populated by images of unbearably sad eyes and flowing dark hair streaked with blond, Jacen woke to find his sister standing beside the cushioned pallet on which he slept. She tossed a clean jumpsuit at him. “Time to get up, sleepyhead. We want to get an early start.”

Jacen, groggy from his lack of rest, blinked up at her. “What for?”

Just then Anakin appeared in the doorway, a travel satchel slung over one shoulder. “I’m all packed,” he announced.

“For the fact-finding mission to Anobis,” Jaina explained. “Mom said it was a good idea. She sent Dad a transmission this morning of everything the New Republic knows about the planet and their civil war. Unfortunately, it’s not much.”

The impact of his sister’s words finally sank in, and Jacen came fully awake. Untangling himself from the cushions and blankets, he leapt to his feet. “Where’s Dad now?”

“Went down to the docking bay to start preflight checks on the Falcon,” Jaina said.

“We leave in less than an hour, Jacen—if you’re ready,” Anakin said, running a skeptical eye over his older brother. “Zekk, Lowie, and Tenel Ka are already there waiting.”

As he scrambled to get dressed, Jacen felt miraculously energetic.

They were going to do something to help Anja’s planet, he thought.

Maybe they could find a way to banish the sadness from her eyes forever. The young Jedi Knights were going on a true rescue mission, just like the ones Tionne used to tell them about from Jedi legends.

He flashed his siblings a cheerful grin. “Don’t worry. I’ll be ready.”

By the time Jacen reached the docking bay, Anakin was already at work at the navigation controls and Jaina was examining the external sublight engines. Tenel Ka, Zekk, and Lowie were gathered around Han Solo, being briefed on the upcoming mission.

Seeing Jacen, Han gestured for him to join the other young Jedi Knights. “So, if this planet is as torn up from the war as Anja says it is,” he concluded, “we might just need a few extra helping hands. I think we should all stick together on the Falcon, though. Got plenty of room and there’s less chance of running into trouble if we don’t slip up.” Jaina looked up from her work on the sublight engines.

“But what about the Rock Dragon?” she protested.

Han glanced at the Hapan passenger cruiser. “I think we can station an extra guard or two here without much difficulty.”

Tenel Ka’s lips curled in a hard smile. “And the vessel has its own… security systems.”

“Indeed, yes,” Em Teedee said. “And they are most efficient. I had a fine conversation with them just this morning.”

“It’s settled then.” Han clapped his hands and began giving out assignments.

Jacen was glad to know that all of his friends would be coming along.

They worked well as a team, and he had no doubt that together they could handle anything that happened on Anobis.

He had no sooner begun his task of examining the Falcon’s lower hull than a familiar figure sauntered into the docking bay. She held herself straight and proud, and her dark, streaked hair trailed behind her like the tail of a comet.

“Hey, what are you doing here, Anja?” Jacen asked, managing to sound brash, if not outright rude. He felt himself turn red with embarrassment as he realized his blunder.

The young woman seemed not to notice. She bent to look at him beneath the Falcon’s hull, her big eyes serious. “After what happened yesterday, I wanted to make sure that your ship had come to no harm.”

“Hey, that’s kind of a coincidence,” Jacen said. He started to stand to get a better look at her, but only succeeded in smacking his head on the belly of the Falcon. He quickly ducked down again. “What I mean is, we’re all on our way to Anobis—to help your people, like you suggested.”

Anja cocked her head slightly as she digested this information, then shrugged as if this were no more than she had expected. “I’m on my way back there myself.”

“Hey, Jacen. Don’t forget to check those two rear struts when you’re finished,” his father’s voice called from inside.

“Uh, Dad?” Jacen called back. “Do we have room for another passenger?”

“Depends. Who—?” Han jumped off the ramp to land beside the ship, and his question ended in a wordless whistle of surprise.

“Anja needs to go to Anobis, too,” Jacen hastily explained, seeing the strained look that passed between his father and Gallandro’s daughter.

Anja backed away from the Falcon, drew herself to her full height, and folded her slender arms across her chest. Her attention remained on Han Solo while Jacen continued. “I thought maybe we could give her a ride. She can probably show us the safest places to land, maybe even introduce us to a few important people.”

His father returned the girl’s challenging stare. “Would you be willing to do that?”

Anja gave a curt nod. “Maybe not to help you—but to help my people, yes.”

Han gave her a hard look, as if he didn’t quite trust her motives. “All right. You’re welcome on the Falcon, then. You can tell us more about your planet’s war once we’re under way.”

Jacen listened with fascination as Anja recounted the tale of the strife that had been raging among her people for decades, since the days of the Empire.

“And so,” Anja continued, “the people of the valley who worked all of the rich farmlands declared war on the mountain people simply because we traded with the Empire. They stopped trading with us or selling us food. What else could we do?” She looked earnestly around to her circle of listeners. “In the mountains we had no way to make a living except with our mining. If we hadn’t agreed to trade with the Empire, the Imperials would have come and taken the raw materials from us by force. We had very few herd beasts, and no croplands. We would have starved.”

Seeing the skepticism on the faces of his father and his sister, Jacen could not help but come to Anja’s defense. “The valley people should have been helping you. After all, it wasn’t a crime just to trade with the Empire. A lot of current members of the New Republic did that.”

Anja gave a sad sigh and nodded. “Not only did the farmers declare war on us, they also sabotaged our mines by booby-trapping the tunnels. They continue to do so even today. The tunnels collapse, our people are killed, and our work becomes ever more difficult.”

“Yeah, well, there are two sides to every story, kid,” Han said. “Maybe more than two.”

Jacen thought about the story his father had told Anja about Gallandro’s death, and what he had told Jacen, Jaina, and Anakin the night before. He wondered if there might not be more than two sides to that story as well….

“We’re on a fact-finding mission here,” Han went on. “And we’d like to get the story from as many points of view as we can before we decide how the New Republic can help.”

Anja gave him a haughty look. “Of course, I just have to hope you know the truth when you hear it.”

Jacen wondered.