Shadow Academy

3

Lando keyed in some instructions on the control panel. “I’m telling Lobot we’re ready for departure.”

Red lights flashed on the bay walls, signaling the Fast Hands status as it prepared for release into Yavin’s atmosphere. Three technicians trotted out of the room, and the airlock doors sealed behind them.

“Hang on,” Lando said.

The floor beneath the Fast Hand slid away. Jacen’s stomach lurched as the armored diving bell fell from GemDiver Station, down into the swirling fury of gases. Lowie yelped in sudden astonishment. Jacen’s pulse raced. Jaina gripped the arms of her seat.

The Fast Hand hurtled downward, but soon Jacen sensed their descent stabilizing, slowing, becoming more controlled.

“I can feel the energy tether holding us,” Jaina said.

Jacen reached out with his Jedi senses and detected a shimmering cool thread that connected them to the orbiting station high above. Eager and interested, he unclasped his crash restraints and looked out the nearest windowport as the roiling clouds rushed closer, slamming toward them.

Jacen saw a fleet of tiny ships like agricultural drones skimming across the tops of the rising gases. The small ships hauled a glowing golden web behind them, like a faint net dragged through the clouds.

“What are those?” Jaina asked, curious as always about how things worked.

“Contractors of mine,” Lando said. “Corusca fishermen. They take a fleet of skiffs along the cloud tops, trailing an energy seine behind them. As they fly through the clouds, the energy differential in the net reacts to the presence of tiny Corusca stones. They pick up only smaller stones and Corusca dust. It may not seem like much, but it’s still quite valuable and worth the effort.

“I help support their operation, and they give me a percentage of their catch. But the larger Corusca gems are deeper down. The great pressures near the core always made it impossible to mine those big gemstones, but with this new quantum armor, we can take the Fast Hand all the way down.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Jaina asked.

“Right. Let’s go,” Jacen said, rubbing his hands together. Then he flashed a mischievous grin. “Hey, Lando, I heard two droids talking the other day. The first one said, ‘Well, did you beat the Wookiee at sabacc?’ and the second one said—”

“—‘Yes, but it cost me an arm and a leg,’” Lando finished. “That’s an old joke, kid.”

Jacen frowned at first, then giggled. “Maybe that’s why Tenel Ka didn’t laugh at it.”

Jaina looked at her brother. “I don’t think that’s the reason she didn’t laugh.”

The diving bell continued its descent. Lando plied the controls, unreeling the energy tether. As the dense organic mists and colored aerosols folded around them, the winds became gentle fingers drumming against the walls, growing louder and more insistent.

The storm systems increased in fury. Bolts of blue lightning shot across the murky sky as far as Jacen could see. Static electricity crawled over the outer hull like jagged caterpillars, sparking and snapping against the connecting point of the energy tether.

Lowie uttered a long and concerned-sounding sentence in Wookiee language, and his translator droid piped up. “A good question, Master Lowbacca. What does happen if the energy tether is severed? How would we get back?”

“Oh, we’ve got life-support supplies aboard,” Lando said, waving his hand again. “We could survive quite a while down here until a rescue mission was mounted from GemDiver Station. We have communications and energy backups—but it won’t happen, don’t worry.”

As if to disagree with him, an unexpected gust of wind slapped them sideways so that Jacen tumbled from his seat. He pulled himself back up and sheepishly refastened his crash webbing.

Suddenly the Fast Hand seemed to snap free from its connecting line. They dropped like a cannonball, plunging and plunging for a full ten seconds. Lowie yowled, and Jacen and Jaina cried out. Lando pumped up the energy levels until finally he managed to reconnect the tether.

“See? No problem,” he said with a nonchalant grin, but Jacen could see the beads of sweat on Lando’s forehead. “You all might want to tighten your crash webbing, though,” he said. “These storms make for some hefty turbulence in the lower atmosphere. That’s what stirs up the interface level and gives the Corusca gems a nudge. Once we get a little lower, we’ll start hunting.”

“I’d like to try my hand at it,” Jaina said.

“I’ll let you each have a turn at the controls, but I should warn you that Corusca gems are very rare, even down here. Don’t expect to find anything.”

Jacen asked, “If we’re at the controls and we find a Corusca gem, can we keep it?”

Lando smiled indulgently. “Well, I suppose … but we can’t spend a lot of time down here looking for gems.”

“Oh, we won’t,” Jacen said. “But it’s still good to have some incentive.”

Lando laughed. “Just like your father,” he said. Jacen smiled, thinking of all the times Lando Calrissian and Han Solo had worked with each other—or in competition against each other—over the years of their long friendship.

Lando looked at his controls again and opened up more window panels on the floor so they could see the murky gases beneath them, supercharged with energy.

“This is probably good enough,” Lando said. “Let’s start fishing.” He glanced at the chronometer on his wrist. “We really need to head back up soon.” He swallowed, and Jacen sensed just how nervous Lando really was to be down this far. Daredevil gem hunters willing to risk their lives for the fabulously expensive Corusca stones usually did all the deep dives.

The Fast Hand had gone so far into the planetary atmosphere that by now the winds were dark around them, so dense that even light from Yavin’s sun could not penetrate. Lando clicked on the diving bell’s spotlights, and cones of creamy light struggled against the battering storms and whirling gases.

“I’m going to deploy our trolling cables,” Lando said. “They’re electromagnetic ropes that dangle down to catch flying Corusca gems whipped up by the storms. You can each have only a few minutes, because we need to get back up to the station. These storm systems are getting worse.”

The storms hadn’t seemed to be getting worse at all to Jacen; they had been bad enough to begin with. But the tension apparent on Lando’s face made Jacen want to end their expedition quickly as well.

“Lowbacca, why don’t you try first?” Lando suggested. “Come up front and take the controls.”

The young Wookiee crouched in a seat that was far too small for him and rested his hands on the multiple joysticks of the controls. He directed the dangling, sizzling energy cables that trailed out like magnetic tentacles through the stormy atmosphere.

Jacen unbuckled his crash webbing again and crawled along the floor to peer through the square portholes. He could see the yellow magnetic whips that extended from the Fast Hand raking through the gaseous clouds, but catching nothing.

After a few moments, Lowie groaned in frustration. Em Teedee said, “Master Lowbacca wishes to offer someone else a turn.” Lowie relinquished the controls to Jaina, who sat down with focused concentration, the tip of her tongue wedged between her lips at the corner of her mouth. Her eyes, golden-brown pools that stared into nothingness, fell half-closed as she worked the controls. Jacen watched the energy lines writhe below, sifting through the clouds, searching.

“Now, don’t get disappointed,” Lando said. “I told you it’s still hard work to find even one gem. They’re quite rare. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be so valuable.”

Jaina continued to search for a few minutes longer, then gave up. Jacen climbed to his feet and came forward, struggling to keep his balance in the gale-force winds. He caught the arm of the chair and pulled himself into it, letting his hands wrap around the controls.

As he tugged on the joysticks he could feel the response from the lashing energy cables, groping about like nimble fingers sifting through sand to find gold. He reached out with his mind, concentrating as Jaina had, using what he knew of Jedi powers to search for the precious gems. He didn’t know what a Corusca stone would feel like, but he expected he would know if he encountered one. The whirling clouds seemed empty, thick with useless gases and crushed debris, nothing of interest.

His twin sister sat behind him, and he could feel her hoping for his success. Just as he was about to give up, Jacen suddenly felt a flash, a glint in his mind. He nudged the joysticks sideways, stretching out the long electrical fingers, searching, extending them as far as they would reach. With one lightning tip he scratched through the clouds, stretching, stretching … and finally he snagged the glimmer in his mind.

The control panels lit up. “I got one!” he cried.

Lando looked as shocked as anyone else. “You did!” he said. “Okay, let’s bring it in fast. Time to go.”

Lando took over and reeled the magnetic tentacles back into the Fast Hand, pulling in the catch. As he stabilized the energy tether again, Lando opened a small access port in the floor and pulled up a durasteel cargo box rimed with frost. He withdrew an irregular but beautiful Corusca gem, larger than the one he had shown them earlier. It flashed with trapped fire.

Breathlessly, Jacen took it from Lando, cradling it in the palms of his hands. “Look what I got!” he said.

Jaina and Lowie offered their congratulations. Lando, knowing he had promised to give the prize to the kids, shook his head in grudging admiration. “Keep that safe, Jacen,” Lando said. “That’s enough to buy half a city block on Coruscant, I bet.”

“Its worth that much?” Jacen ran his fingers along the smooth, incredibly hard surface of the gem. “What if I lose it?” he said.

“Put it in your boot,” Jaina said. “You know you never lose things there.”

“I will,” Jacen agreed. “I think I’ll give it to mother for her next birthday.”

Lando slapped his forehead. “Even Han never gave Leia something that valuable! Almost makes me wish I had a couple of kids,” he muttered. “All right, let’s head back up.”

As if to encourage him, another fist of wind slammed the side of the Fast Hand and sent them spinning. Jacen fumbled with his Corusca gem, nearly dropped it on the floor, then caught it again and clutched it in his fist. He immediately tucked it into his boot, where he wouldn’t have to worry about it falling out.

His forehead still furrowed with anxiety, Lando Calrissian reeled in the energy tether, hauling the Fast Hand back toward the safer levels of Yavin’s atmosphere.

The storms tossed them around. Once they heard a loud spang against the quantum-armored hull. Lando yelped and looked over at the wall. “Another one! Jaina, get over there and check that seal,” he said.

“What happened?” Jacen asked.

On her knees, Jaina scuttled over to check. “Looks like it’s okay,” she said.

“What was it?” Jacen insisted. He saw the tiniest dent on the inside, but sensed no leaking atmosphere.

“We just got hit by a Corusca gem thrown at high speed by these winds. It’s like a projectile weapon striking us, and only the quantum armor saved us. I can’t believe this luck.” Lando shook his head. “I spend hours and hours looking for those gems on my own and come up empty-handed. But when I bring you down here, Jacen snatches one right away, and then we get hit by another as we’re heading back up top.”

Lowie bellowed a comment, and Em Teedee said, “I fervently agree with Master Lowbacca: Let’s hope we don’t encounter any more of them.”

Lightning bolts flashed around the hull, sparking blue light into the murky clouds. But as they rose higher toward the safety of GemDiver Station, the storm winds grew calmer, less insistent. Lando relaxed visibly.

When they finally rose back into the glittering GemDiver Station, and the floor sealed beneath them, Lando heaved a sigh of relief and slumped down in the pilot’s chair.

The pressure bay refilled with atmosphere, and Lando flicked the controls to unseal the armored hatch. “There. We’re back safe and sound,” he said, climbing out on unsteady legs. “I think that’s enough adventures for now. How about we relax and get something to eat?”

Lando had barely finished making the suggestion, though, when the sudden wailing of station alarms screeched across the intercom systems.

“Now what is it?” Lando asked. “What’s going on?

The three young Jedi Knights jumped out of the Fast Hand and followed Lando as he ran to a comm station on the wall. “This is Lando Calrissian. Give me a status update.”

“An unidentified fleet just appeared out of hyperspace,” came the tense voice of a station security chief. “They refuse our hails and are heading toward GemDiver Station at great speed, intent unknown.” The voice clicked off.

Jacen and Jaina ran toward one of the viewports and looked out into the darkness of space. Then Jacen saw the ships, like a swarm of meteors, streaking in their direction. Somehow he sensed they were powering on their weapons—up to no good. He gulped.

“Looks like an Imperial fleet to me,” Jaina said.