Shards of Alderaan

3

A soft rain fell outside the Jedi academy, so gentle that Tenel Ka hardly noticed it. Clothed only in her lizard hide outfit, she had long ago trained her body to endure variations in her environment, refusing to let anything distract her from important matters. Focused on restoring the damaged practice courtyard beside the Great Temple, the warrior girl moved swiftly about her tasks.

Even without her left arm, Tenel Ka never assumed she should do less work than the others. The need to pull her own weight was too much a part of her personality for her to consider anything else. Tenel Ka acknowledged that her pride had been a major cause of the lightsaber accident, and she had come to view the loss of her arm as a test of her mettle, a challenge to her persistence.

Tenel Ka had been an excellent gymnast, swimmer, and climber when she’d had both hands, and now she refused to let her missing limb stop her from doing the things she enjoyed. That meant she had to find alternative approaches and solutions. Her friends understood this; Lowbacca, the twins, and sometimes even their little brother Anakin worked at finding novel ways to help her overcome various obstacles.

Strangely, these small victories had become a source of secret enjoyment for her. Whenever a situation arose that normally required the use of two arms, Tenel Ka challenged herself to find another way to accomplish the task—such as resetting some of these flagstones in the practice courtyard.

Clearing the debris from the explosion had been a fairly simple matter. Other Jedi students had helped, using the Force to remove broken rubble and chunks of vine-covered stone. One group had used the enthusiastic ronto to haul heavy fallen blocks away from the opening of the hangar bay.

Putting the pieces back together, however, proved to be much more complex.

Tenel Ka caught a flash of color out of the corner of her eye and noted Raynar striding up. The young man set to work near her, his spiky blond hair damp and his robes drooping in the misty rains. The usually haughty teen was trying to maneuver a flagstone into place with his foot to avoid getting more mud on his purple, orange, red, and yellow clothes.

Tenel Ka had noticed that ever since the Shadow Academy’s attack, Raynar had found reasons to stay near the four young Jedi Knights. Though his bearing remained proud, the young man worked hard and willingly.

Tenel Ka pounded her flagstone firmly into place and filled in the surrounding cracks with packed dirt and mud. Then she helped Raynar rotate his stone so that it fit better beside hers. The two of them remained quiet, intent on their tasks.

Jaina and Lowbacca continued rebuilding the adjacent courtyard wall. “You know, I think repairs on your T-23 are coming along pretty well, Lowie,” Jaina said. “Maybe we can tinker with it again this afternoon after I finish my shift watching Zekk.”

Lowbacca barked his agreement. “An excellent idea, Mistress Jaina,” Em Teedee chimed in. “With my new set of diagnostic subroutines, we ought to have that skyhopper fully operational again in very little time.”

“This is a fact,” Tenel Ka said, standing up. “I will be happy to assist you. Your brother will no doubt offer to provide entertainment.”

“I don’t know … I think one of us still needs to stay with Zekk,” Jaina said doubtfully, “even if he’s still unconscious.”

“Then again, maybe not,” Jacen’s voice came from the opposite side of the wall. Tenel Ka turned to see the young Jedi appear, stepping over a low pile of rubble in the broken wall and flashing a wide grin. “Hey, good news—Zekk’s out of his coma. Everything’s going to be just fine now.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Jaina asked, brushing herself off. Her cheeks, damp from the mist, flushed pink with excitement. “Come on. Let’s go see him.”

“Whoa!” Jacen said, holding up his hands. “I just got him some soup. Old Peckhum fed it to him, and after they talked for a few minutes Zekk fell asleep again. I think we’d better let him rest for a while.”

“Okay,” Jaina agreed, looking disappointed though greatly relieved now that her friend seemed to be out of danger.

From his place on the second level outside the broken pyramid, Master Skywalker called for his students to assemble so that he could speak with them. The Jedi trainees gathered and watched their teacher with great interest. A hush as light as the falling mist fell over the group.

“It’s an unusual experience for us to meet out in the open like this, but new experiences, even painful ones, can be good,” Master Skywalker said. “They help us grow. We must learn the lessons each experience offers us, and then move forward.”

Tenel Ka nodded, thinking of all the ways she had had to adapt after her accident.

“The galaxy does not stay the same. It changes from day to day, and we must change and grow to meet new challenges.” Master Skywalker continued. “As Jedi, we must never allow ourselves to become stagnant or self-satisfied. We must be ever vigilant, aware of what is happening around us, and ready to adapt to changing circumstances.” He glided down the temple steps and walked among the students, stopping near Lowbacca and Jaina.

“We are surrounded by examples of adaptation and change. Take Lowbacca’s translating droid, for instance. Em Teedee’s primary purpose has been to translate Wookiee speech into Basic. But now that some of you can understand part of Lowie’s words, that skill is no longer so essential. Em Teedee requested additional programming to help him adapt to the new situation, and so Jaina and Lowie have been enriching Em Teedee’s subroutines, and even adding new language skills.”

The little droid’s optical sensors glowed with pleasure at being singled out.

“All of us need to do the same thing,” the Jedi Master continued. Suddenly he paused and cocked his head, as if listening.

Jaina whirled to look at the landing field in front of the Great Temple. “Dad?” she whispered, her face filled with an expression of surprise and disbelief.

A murmur went up from the Jedi trainees, and Tenel Ka turned to see the Millennium Falcon making its final approach through the cloudy skies of the jungle moon.

“I think that will be all for now,” Master Skywalker said in a concerned voice. “Please return to your activities while I welcome our unexpected guests.”

At the teacher’s dismissal, Jacen and Jaina took off for the landing field at a run, with Lowbacca and Tenel Ka following close behind.

At first Jaina was too stunned to speak when Han Solo swept her up in a quick hug, then repeated the process with Jacen. Lowie and his tall uncle Chewbacca exchanged happy roars.

Chewie tossed the twins high into the air by turns and caught them again, as if they were mere babies, while Han put a hand on Luke’s shoulder and began talking in a low, urgent voice. Jaina finally managed to ask her father what he was doing there. She was almost afraid of the answer, since they had been through so many changes, had heard so much bad news recently.

“Hey, you wouldn’t want your old dad to become predictable, would you?” Han said, flashing a roguish grin. “I’ve got a few surprises left in me. Just finished a trip to GemDiver Station to see Lando on my way back from an important trade conference. When your mom got some disturbing news, she thought it’d be best if I stopped by to deliver it in person.”

Imagining the worst, Jaina felt the blood drain from her face. “What is it, Dad? What’s happened?” In her heart, she feared that it was something else to do with Zekk, some other dark thing he had done.

Han’s face looked grim. “I need to talk to a student named Raynar Thul. Do you know him?”

“Of course we know him … ,” Jacen said.

All of a sudden, as if from nowhere, the boy himself appeared out of the mist beside Jaina. He had followed the young Jedi Knights in their rush to the damp landing field.

“I am Raynar Thul. You may address me directly.”

Looking at the blond-haired boy, Han sighed. “I’m sorry, kid, but I’ve got some rough news. I’m afraid your father’s disappeared. No one’s heard from him for several days.”

Raynar’s normally rosy complexion paled. “My father is too important a man, a former noble of Alderaan. He can’t just disappear. There must be some mistake.”

Han gave Raynar a sympathetic look. “Afraid not, kid. Your father and I have been serving on the New Republic Trade Council together. We were supposed to meet at a major conference on Shumavar, but he never showed.”

Raynar swallowed hard as Han Solo continued quickly. “’Bout a week ago your father told me he was starting trade negotiations with a Twi’lek woman, Nolaa Tarkona, who’s heading some new political movement. He was supposed to finalize the details with her during the Shumavar conference. Wasn’t sure why, but I smelled something rotten in the deal. Tried to warn your father, but he wouldn’t listen to me.”

Raynar’s cheeks flushed deep red. “Bornan Thul always listens to sound advice.”

Han shrugged. “Well, I guess he wasn’t too impressed by the advice of a former smuggler who managed to marry well. At any rate, your father never arrived at the trade conference. Your mother contacted us on Coruscant a few days ago, said your father disappeared without a word. His brother hasn’t heard from him either. Has your dad tried to contact you at all?”

Raynar shook his head, then raised his chin. His eyes flashed. “Has a proper team been organized to look for him? We should begin a search immediately. I’ll lead it myself, if need be. I could—”

“Just a minute there, kid,” Han said, holding his palms out. “I got strict orders from your family to make sure you stay here with Luke. That’s the best protection I can imagine. If your father’s been kidnapped by some unsavory types, your mother and your uncle don’t want you out in the middle of things. We sure don’t want to have to track you down and rescue you, too. Best thing you can do for the moment is to lay low and let us do the looking.”

Feeling a rush of sympathy for Raynar, Jaina put a hand on the young man’s arm. “I’m sure it’ll be all right, Raynar,” she said.

Raynar threw back his shoulders and sent Jaina a frightened look that he tried to mask with disdain. “Of course it will be all right,” he said. “My father’s an important man.” He looked back at Han Solo.

“Very well then. I’ll stay on Yavin 4. Just see to it that you have competent searchers looking for my father.”