The Emperor's Plague

3

Zekk had not expected it to be so easy, especially not after the debacle in the Senate hall.

“What?”

“I said, ‘Of course.’ When do we leave?” Raynar answered. Zekk had anticipated several tedious meetings with Aryn Dro Thul, explaining why her son should accompany him on the dangerous quest to find Bornan Thul. Zekk already knew how to find the fugitive, since he had placed a tracer on Thul’s ship a week ago, but he had no reason to believe Bornan Thul would willingly return with him, or even listen to reason. That was why Raynar had to come along. The Alderaanian boy clasped his hands behind his back and began pacing up and down the length of the battle-scarred Lightning Rod. His bootsteps echoed in the large repair bay.

“I can be ready in a few hours, if that’s not too long,” he said with an eager expression. Zekk shook his head and tapped a hydrospanner against the ship’s hull. “It’ll take me at least that long to finish here. Less than that if Jaina can help us—and if I know Jaina, wild gundarks couldn’t keep her away.”

As it turned out, Jaina also recruited her twin brother, as well as Tenel Ka, Lowie and his sister Sirra, and of course Em Teedee. In addition, she offered to accompany Zekk and Raynar on their rescue mission to serve as navigator, copilot, or anything else they might need.

“No, Jaina,” Zekk told her in a gentle but firm voice. “Raynar’s one of two people in the galaxy that Bornan Thul is likely to trust. I need him with me, but I’m not risking anyone else.”

Jaina tried to hide her hurt by turning toward the navigational console and double-checking Em Teedee’s connections.

“Run the usual diagnostics, Em Teedee,” she said. “And don’t forget the special ones I asked for.”

“Certainly, Mistress Jaina,” the little droid replied. “But do you believe it’s absolutely necessary to—”

“Just do it, Em Teedee,” Jaina broke in with an edge of impatient urgency. Then she turned back to Zekk. “I understand exactly how dangerous this situation is. Whether you find Raynar’s father or not, you’re probably on the Diversity Alliance’s most-wanted list by now. And you’re definitely considered fair game for bounty hunters, since you turned against them and helped Bornan Thul escape before.”

A pair of Wookiee voices bellowed from the cargo bay, and Jaina yelled back, “I think Tenel Ka and Jacen have the sealant patches. They’re outside working on the hull.”

Zekk placed his hands on Jaina’s shoulders, shook her gently. “There’s a chance Raynar and I won’t make it back. He has to go, and so do I—but I won’t put you in that kind of danger.”

Jaina looked past him out the cockpit viewports, pretending an interest in the Sorosuub ion skimmer that had just cruised into the docking bay. What gave Zekk the right to decide whether or not she could put herself in danger? Her hands clenched and unclenched a few times.

“If that plague gets loose, none of us will be safe anyway,” she pointed out, still trying to make him see reason. “There’s a lot at stake, and everyone’s taking risks. Lusa and Sirra and Uncle Luke are all going on the inspection team headed for Ryloth. They’ll all be in danger. So will you. You’d stand a much better chance of coming out of this alive if I came along, you know.”

A long silence stretched between them.

“I don’t know if you can understand this,” Zekk said at last. He pulled her closer to him—a move that surprised Jaina. His voice was tight with emotion. “I made some choices back when I joined the Shadow Academy—the wrong choices. I was willing to put the whole New Republic at risk just to prove to myself that I was as good as you and your family. All I managed to prove to myself was how wrong I was.

“I came close to killing you once, because Brakiss had convinced me—or I had convinced myself—that you thought I was unworthy. Now the New Republic is in jeopardy again, and I’m one of the few people who can do something about it.” He gave a mirthless laugh. “Funny thing is, this time I don’t feel like I have anything to prove. I just need to know that you’re safe, that your family’s safe, that old Peckhum’s safe. I want to make sure that humans, Wookiees, and all other species are safe from anyone who rules by murder and hate … or because they have something to prove.” Zekk pulled back, and his emerald eyes bored into Jaina’s. “I’m going to try to save Raynar’s father. But if I can’t, I’ll do whatever I can to keep the galaxy safe—whether it means blowing up his ship, or my ship … or everything.”

Jaina sensed the fierce determination in Zekk. Her eyes filled with tears, and she tried to blink them away. Yes, she understood. She understood only too well, and she knew there would be no changing Zekk’s mind. She unclenched her fists, slid her arms around his back, and squeezed him tightly.

Jacen’s upside-down face appeared in one of the side viewports. He dangled from the roof of the Lightning Rod, making faces at his sister, and pointing to where Raynar and Lusa stood in front of the ship, also sharing a goodbye embrace. Jacen’s upside-down eyebrows raised and lowered comically.

“Well then,” Jaina said, somewhere between a laugh and a choke, “what are we waiting for? We have a ship to get ready for its most important flight ever. You got everything we need, Em Teedee?”

“Yes, indeed, Mistress Jaina.” Zekk pressed his cheek against hers. “Thank you,” he whispered.

Raynar leaned over the navicomputer console and fine-tuned his lock on the tracer frequency.

“Looks stable this time,” he reported. “The beacon hasn’t cut out or faded.”

Zekk nodded.

“Good. Your father’s not making any more hyperspace jumps right now. Let’s hope he decides to stay put for a while.”

“Should I calculate a route to these coordinates?” Raynar asked.

Zekk had spent the past day filling in the gaps in Raynar’s star-piloting education. The blond-haired boy now felt competent to set a course, calculate hyperspace jumps, and operate some of the weapons systems. Zekk had even let him fly the Lightning Rod for a couple of hours.

“Go ahead,” Zekk said as he watched the boy enter the coordinates and plot the route. “You’re not a half-bad copilot, you know?”

Raynar flushed with pride at Zekk’s expression of confidence.

“Thanks for taking the time to teach me. I guess I’ve always been so used to people doing this stuff for me that I never thought to learn it for myself. Actually, I’m surprised Jaina didn’t insist on coming along to be your copilot.”

Zekk grimaced.

“She did.” He paused for a long moment, as if considering how to say something unpleasant. “I told her I didn’t want her along … because we might not make it back.”

“We have to make it back,” Raynar said with a stubborn optimism he hadn’t known he possessed. “I promised Lusa. Besides,” he added, flashing Zekk a calculating glance, “you don’t expect Jaina to stay out of trouble just because you’re not around, do you? Who’ll come to her rescue?”

As Raynar leaned forward to fiddle with the navicomputer, he heard a soft chuckle from Zekk.

“You’re right. We will have to make it back.”

With that the the dark-haired young man flicked a few switches and plunged the Lightning Rod into hyperspace.

They traveled in companionable silence for a few hours. Finally, Zekk shook himself from a deep reverie.

“Speaking of convincing people not to come along, how did you talk your mother out of trying to come with us?”

“It was easier than I expected,” Raynar said. “I told her that if a couple of Jedi couldn’t bring my father back safely, then two Jedi and a businesswoman wouldn’t be any more likely to succeed.”

Zekk’s eyebrows raised slightly when Raynar said two Jedi.

Raynar added, “She knows that if anything happened to my father and me, she’s the only one who can run Bornaryn Trading. She has a responsibility to all of those clients and employees. Anyway, I think it made her a bit happier just to learn that my father had a good reason for running. He was trying to protect us all.”

“And now we’ve got to protect him,” Zekk said, looking down at the navicomputer. “Here we are.”

He nodded to Raynar when the Lightning Rod dropped out of hyperspace. Raynar’s breathing sped up, and his heartbeat pounded in his ears. After a long, long search, he was finally going to see his father again.

“Uh-oh,” Zekk said as normal space resolved into clear focus around them. “Looks like your father’s not just taking a break—he’s got uninvited guests.”

Raynar swallowed hard as he surveyed the scene before him. His father’s ship was here, all right. But so were two other ships: Boba Fett’s vessel Slave IV and another craft he didn’t recognize. He flicked on the comm system.

“Dad, it’s me, Raynar. Zekk and I are here to rescue you.” A split second later, both bounty hunter ships fired on Bornan Thul.