The Emperor's Plague

29

Back on the jungle moon, Lowie sat comfortably ensconced at the top of a Massassi tree, staring patiently into the starry night sky and thinking about the final transmission burst Raaba had sent from the Rising Star. There had been no voice message, no hologram—only a cryptic line of code in old-fashioned clicks and bursts of static that she knew he would understand.

The words, conveyed in Basic, had been simple: “If I survive, I’ll find you.”

Lowie leaned back and watched a shooting star streak across the sky. And waited.

Raynar’s hand shook slightly and he sought out Master Skywalker’s eyes. Even now he was unsure of himself, was not certain he dared … was not certain he was worthy.

The Jedi Master’s eyes were kind and serious. He nodded.

“Go ahead, Raynar.” Fumbling slightly because his hands were slick with sweat, Raynar moved his thumb into position and pressed the switch. With a whoosh-hum, an energy blade the color of polished pewter sprang from the hilt of his newly constructed lightsaber.

“The workmanship is excellent,” Master Skywalker observed. “And I’ve seen how well you do with the stun-sticks. Would you like me to ask Tenet Ka to practice with you?”

Raynar blanched.

“Now?”

The Jedi Master chuckled.

“Maybe I’d better have you practice with Jacen for a while first. But not yet. Right now, I’ve got a surprise for you. We have a new permanent student here at the Jedi academy. I thought maybe you could show her around for a while.”

With that, he stepped back and opened the door to his chambers.

“Lusa!” Raynar exclaimed as the centaur girl appeared in the doorway. “I thought you wanted to work for the Cooperative Council.”

Lusa tossed back her long cinnamon mane and gave an eloquent shrug of her bare shoulders.

“I might someday, but I have a lot to learn first. I’ve asked Master Skywalker to teach me more about my powers with the Force.”

Raynar found himself with nothing to say. His mouth hung open.

“I think you can put your lightsaber away for now,”

Master Skywalker said. “There’ll be plenty of time for that later.”

Raynar snapped out of his surprise-induced immobility and turned off his lightsaber.

“I…” Raynar blinked at Lusa and tried to collect his thoughts.

“Would you like to go for a walk?” the centaur girl asked. “I know of a very pretty waterfall.”

On a small planet without a name, far out in a barely charted sector of the Outer Rim, Raaba built a burial cairn for Nolaa Tarkona. She worked alone—she was the only being on this entire world—to find large rocks on the crumbling ridge where she had made their base camp. Using her strong Wookiee fingers, she pried up stones and piled them higher where she had buried the Twi’lek leader. Nolaa Tarkona had died of the plague the day before. Raaba had flown here, navigating by instinct rather than any star chart, and she had set down her star skimmer near a cluster of habitable caves on this silent planet.

Nolaa had grown rapidly worse, day by day, as the slow-acting disease ravaged her body, destroyed her immune systems. She had thrashed and raved, insisting that Raaba take her back to Coruscant so that she could receive medical treatment in the capital of the New Republic. But Raaba had refused. She could not risk bringing the sick Twi’lek woman anyplace where she might infect others, where she might spread the evil plague developed by twisted Imperial scientists. The disease had proved fatal to Twi’leks, and might well be able to cross many species boundaries.

Raaba could not take that chance. And so she had tended her leader all by herself. The chocolate-furred Wookiee had suffered ill effects of her own: a fever, pounding headaches, muscle cramps. Some of her fur had fallen out in patches. Raaba had been sure she would follow Nolaa Tarkona in a lingering death. But her strong constitution had ultimately defeated the plague. She recovered just about the time that Nolaa had died, but even now, she knew she might still carry the disease organism; she might still infect others.

The breeze picked up, whistling along the knife edges of the barren rock. The air smelled like hot dust. Tall brown ferns protruded from cracks in the ridge, rattling their dry leaves together. The sun shimmered thick and orange near the horizon. Raaba piled another heavy stone on the cairn. She would finish her work here soon. Her star skimmer might also be tainted with the organism; her own systems might still bear the plague. Raaba had to quarantine herself here, at least for a while.

After seeing Nolaa’s long and suffering death, Raaba wanted no part in spreading such a scourge throughout the galaxy. She would wait here, for as long as it took.

A group of large rodents with hard shells on their backs scuttled out of their warrens in the cliffside. They stood in groups like miniature soldiers, watching the Wookiee woman’s strange activities. Raaba glanced at them, then turned back to her labor. She piled boulder after boulder atop the place where she had interred the leader of the Diversity Alliance. Finally, she had an impressive monument, a marker to commemorate all the dreams and dedication Nolaa Tarkona had stood for.

Her need for equality and reparations had been valid, but her tactics had taken her beyond the reach of reason.

“Rest in peace, Nolaa Tarkona,” she said, looking across the burial mound to the distant horizon. The world was empty, but peaceful and quiet. A good place to think, a good place to heal. Someday she would come back to the galaxy; someday she would find Lowbacca. But only when she was ready.

“Yes, I’m sure,” Zekk said, looking directly into Master Luke Skywalker’s eyes. “I wasn’t ready before, but now I am. It took a while for me to understand that I don’t have to use the dark side if I don’t want to. I need you to teach me the right way. Teach me to use the light side of the Force, so I can become a true Jedi Knight.”

“Do you still have your lightsaber?” Luke asked.

Zekk was surprised.

“No, I got rid of that when I gave up being a Jedi, after the Shadow Academy was destroyed. I’ll … I’ll have to build a new one.”

“We’ll do it the right way this time.”

Luke Skywalker gave a thoughtful nod. “It’s been a while since we got any new trainees here at the academy—and now we’re getting two in one day. I have a feeling we needed some new blood here,” he said with a faraway look. “Yes, I think it’s high time.” The Jedi Master clasped Zekk’s hand. “I know how hard this decision was for you. But a well-considered decision is far better than one made in haste.”

He raised his eyebrows and flashed a mischievous smile at his new trainee.

“Would you like to tell my niece, or shall l?”

Zekk grinned. “I’ll tell her myself.”

All the attendees of the Jedi academy, along with Han and Leia, Anakin, old Peckhum, dozens of New Republic engineers, and a multitude of dignitaries had gathered to celebrate the newly completed reconstruction of the Great Temple. After a ceremony involving several speeches, awards, and commendations in the grand audience chamber, the entire assembly moved outdoors for a celebratory festival.

During the festivities, the young Jedi Knights, both old and new, withdrew to their favorite place by the wide river that flowed past the Great Temple. They waded into the water and spent hours talking and splashing and enjoying the feeling of wholeness that came from being together again. Em Teedee delighted in his new microrepulsorjets, zipping in and out among his friends or bobbing along on the surface of the river.

Lowie actually engaged the little droid in a couple of water games. Lusa and Raynar stayed near the shore, sharing memories of the losses they had experienced and the lessons they had learned. Tenel Ka and Jacen challenged each other to swimming races, while Jaina and Zekk floated lazily and discussed what materials might be most appropriate for the lightsaber the young man would soon build for himself. After hours spent in pleasant pursuits, the friends gathered on the shore and talked until the sky began to grow dark. The topics were light, and the silences comfortable.

They spoke of the Rock Dragon, the Lightning Rod, Lowie’s T-23, Jedi tales and legends that Tionne had told them, the rebuilt temple, and favorite planets they had been to.

In the wake of one long silence, Jaina said, “I wonder what’s next for us. Do you suppose all Jedi trainees go through the sorts of adventures we’ve had before they become full Jedi Knights?”

“After all we’ve been through together,” Jacen replied, “I’m not sure anything in the future could surprise me.”

“Ah,” Tenel Ka said, turning to him. “Aha.” Then she kissed Jacen firmly on the mouth. “So … were you surprised, friend Jacen?” she asked, with a twinkle in her granite-gray eyes. Lowie gave a bark of laughter at Jacen’s astonished expression.

Zekk chuckled and put an arm around Jaina.

“I don’t know what the future will bring, either. But I’m looking forward to it—and I’m pretty sure it won’t be boring.”

Almost as one, the other young Jedi Knights replied, “This is a fact.”