Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith - Skyborn by John Jackson Miller (short story)

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    D

    L

    BALLANTINE BOOKS NEW YORK

    L o s t T r i b e o f t h e S i t h # 2

    S K Y B O R N

    JOHN JACKSON MILLER

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    Star Wars: Lost Tribe of the Sith #2: Skyborn is a work of fiction.

    Names, places, and incidents either are products of the authors imag-

    ination or are used fictitiously.

    2009 Del Rey eBook edition

    Copyright 2009 by Lucasfilm Ltd. & or where indicated. All

    Rights Reserved. Used Under Authorization.

    Excerpt from Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Abyss copyright 2009by Lucasfilm Ltd. & or where indicated. All Rights Reserved.Used Under Authorization.

    Published in the United States by Del Rey, an imprint of The Random

    House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New

    York.

    DEL REY is a registered trademark and the Del Rey colophon is atrademark of Random House, Inc.

    This book contains an excerpt from the forthcoming book Star

    Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Abyss by Troy Denning. This excerpt has

    been set for this edition only and may not reflect the final content ofthe forthcoming edition.

    ISBN 978-0-345-51939-9

    Printed in the United States of America

    www.starwars.com

    www.delreybooks.com

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    Chapter One

    5,000 years BBY

    Heretic!Good to see you too, Mother, Adari said. Did the

    children behave?The door hadnt fully closed when the smaller child

    was in Adaris arms, shoved there by Eulyn. Adarisolder boy bounded into the room, hobbling her. Underattack from four purple arms, Adari staggered towardthe wall, looking for a spot to drop her nonliving

    cargo. The canvas bag thudded against the woodenfloor.Heretic! Thats what your uncle says theyre calling

    you, Eulyn said. He was hereand neighborWertram, the tailor. And his wife, tooshe never leavesthe hut for anything! Eight people have been bytoday!

    Well, dont look outside, Adari said. More fol-lowed me home. She shooed the gangly older childaway and tried to rescue her silvery hair from her tod-dlers mouth. Short hair wasnt the fashion for Keshiriwomen, but for Adari, it was self-defense. Where heryoungest was concerned, itd never be short enough.

    Is the stew on?

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    John Jackson Mi l le r2

    Stew? Eulyn yanked her little grandson back, onlyto see Adari dart into the kitchen. Flushed with aggra-vation, Eulyns skin took on a violet hue that almost

    matched her daughters. Youre worried about dinner!You dont have any idea whats been going on aroundhere, do you?

    Its a dinner break. I was working.Working, nothing. I know where you were!Adari stared into the clay crock full of boiling meat

    and vegetables and sighed. Of course her mother knew

    where shed been. Everyone did. Adari Vaal, collectorof rocks and stones; young widow of the valiant uvak-rider on whom so many hopes had rested. Adari Vaal,enemy of right and order; absent mother and misleaderof other peoples children. Today had been her thirdday of testimony before the Neshtovar. It had gone as

    well as the other two.What is that sound?Theyre hitting the house with rocks, Adari said,

    returning with a steaming bowl that she set on thetable. Standing back, she swung the front door wideand watched as several gifts from the communitybounced over the threshold. She slammed the doorquickly. A peppery stone under the empty crche drewher eye. She reached for it with a sinewy, scratched arm.Thats a nice one, she said. Not from around here.She was apparently drawing people from all over. Shedhave to look around, later. Who needed expeditionswhen you had an angry mob to collect samples?

    Adari knelt and put the discovery in her pouch,already overflowing with stones of every shape andcolor. Above, the clatter grew louder. The younger childwailed. Eulyns huge dark eyes widened further withhorror. Adari, listen! she said. Theyre hitting theroof now!

    Thats actually thunder.

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    Its proof, thats what it is! The Skyborn have for-saken you.

    No, Mother, its proof that theyreprotectingme,

    Adari said, eating standing up. If it rains, the mobcant set our house on fire.That wasnt likely to happenthe widow of a

    Neshtovari was a protected person, unlikely to bekilled in a riot. However, there was nothing wrong withmaking her life miserable, and since her sin was againstthe Neshtovar themselves, no authority would stop

    them. In fact, little displays like this were good for pub-lic order.

    Adari poked her head into the backyard. No rocksthere. Just the uvak, doing what he had done all year:taking up most of the place and being unfragrant.Emerald reptilian eyes opened long enough to shoot

    her a bad look. His leathery wings shifted, rakingagainst the sides of the pen. The beast didnt mind thecooling rain, but the noise from the street had dis-turbed his royal slumber.

    Riderless uvak were all sloth and bad attitude, butNink hadnt liked his rider when he had one. He wasAdaris least favorite thing, but he came with the house.In a sense, the house was his.

    In olden times, when a Neshtovarian uvak-riderdied, the community had slain the deceaseds family, aswell. That practice had ended, perhaps the only time theNeshtovar had allowed practicality to overrule tradi-tion. Uvak were precious, temperamental, and attached

    to their riders; stabling them with the dead riders sur-vivors often kept the beasts sane enough to be useful forthe breeding market. Not to mention, Adari mused,what it must have done for Neshtovar breeding. Theriders hadnt had great social lives when death was in thepicture. But since the change, uvak-riders had become

    highly sought after as mates in Keshiri society.

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    John Jackson Mi l le r4

    Adari hadnt sought Zhari Vaal at all. She was inter-ested in rocks; Zhari was their equal for conversationalability. In nine years he had given her two dim-witted chil-

    dren, a description that seemed less harsh to her thanmaternally charitable. She loved them well enough, butthey were showing no signs of being any kinder orbrighter than their father had been. Foolishness bred true.She, the fool for not running away; he, well, he was ZhariVaal. The valiant young rider of the Neshtovar onwhom so many hopes restedthat was the line from the

    wakehad mistreated Nink one too many times. Onebeautiful morning, the beast had flown Zhari far out overthe sea and unceremoniously dropped him. Adari wassure she had seen a hint of satisfaction in the creaturesbright green eyes when he returned home. Shed nevergotten along with Nink before, but at least now she paid

    him some respect. When it came to Zhari, the uvak hadhad more sense than she did.

    It wasnt all her fault, she knew. The match hadresulted from years of lobbying by Eulyn, seeking tolock in her familys future position. Only males becameriders, but Keshiri property descended matrilineally;now Adari and her mother had the uvak and the woodenhouse, while their neighbors still lived in huts of lashed-together hejarbo shoots. Eulyn was thrilledand Adariwas content to let the children be Eulyns domain, too.Adari had done her duty; the Keshiri had beenadvanced by another generation. Now she could con-centrate on something important.

    If theyd let her.I have to go back, she said, lifting her younger son

    from his work destroying the dinner table. The after-noon hearing had gone long, and an unprecedentedevening session loomed.

    I knew youd do something like this, Eulyn said,

    her gaze piercing her daughters back. Ive always said

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    all that digging around in the filth would do you nogood. And arguing with the Neshtovar! Why do youalways have to be right?

    I dont know, Mother. But its something Im goingto have to live with, Adari said, handing off the drip-ping toddler. A smeary imprint remained on her tunicno time for a change. Try to get Tona and Finn toactually sleep tonight. Ill be back.

    She opened the door carefully to find that the rainhad driven off the crowd. Comfort trumped belief on

    Kesh. But the rocks remained, dozens of ironic littlestatements scattered all across the stoop. If the hearingslasted any longer, she wouldnt have to do any morefield research for the seasoneverything she neededwould be on her doorstep.

    Perhaps she should offend the Skyborn every year.

    We were talking about the flamestones, Adarireminded the chief of the Neshtovar.

    You were talking, Izri Dazh said. I accept no suchterm. The aged rider and high councilor hobbledaround the edge of the Circle Eternal, a plaza where atall column served as a massive sundial. Adari lookedaround. Another gorgeous evening, for a place that hadno other kind. It was the same every day, inland: abrief, determined afternoon rain followed by a coolbreeze that blew straight through the night. But nowhalf the village had forgone real entertainments towatch a bald, bloodless man harangue a young woman.

    There are no flamestones, he said, gesturing to a pairof crimson rocks on a pedestal beside the central col-umn. I see here only normal stones of Kesh, as youmight find on any hillside.

    Adari coughed.You have something to say?

    Id better not. Adari looked up from her seat in the

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    prised they hadnt hammered down who or what theOtherside was. But then, if they had, theyd have comeup with a better name.

    Which wasnt stopping Izri from invoking it repeat-edly as he railed at her. Your words glorify theOtherside, Adari Vaal. Its why you are here. You arehere for preaching

    Teaching!telling these lies about the Great Battle to your

    acolytes!

    Acolytes? Theyre students! She searched thecrowd for familiar faces. Her students had ducked outthe day before when things had gotten rough, but someof their parents were here. You, Ori Garran! You sentyour son to the scholars because he wasnt any good atthe mill. And Wertram, your daughter. Everyone here in

    Tahvdo you think the village is going to fall into ahole because I talked to your children about somerocks?

    It very well could! Izri grabbed his cane from itsspot by the pedestal and shook it. This land was a partof the living Skyborn. Do you think they do not hearyou? When the ground quakes, when the smokersburnits their remnant acting in sympathy with theirwishes. Their wishes that we honor them, and hate theOtherside!

    This again. I know thats what you think, Adarisaid, searching for slow, even tones. I dont pretend toknow what forces work the world

    Thats clear!but if disagreeable words caused the world to

    shake, Kesh would rock every time husbands and wivesquarreled! She inhaled deeply. Surely, the Skybornhave more important affairs than to police our own lit-tle disagreements. I know they do.

    Silence. Adari looked around. Dark Keshiri eyes,

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    Chapter Two

    A rock was a simple thing, but as her grandfatherhad told her, By simple things, we know the world.Adari had never felt shame for all those hours shedspent searching the creek beds, or for finding more of

    interest in the shards of a shattered stone than in herchildrens first words. She was teaching thembut therock was teaching her.

    Now, thanks to a simple rock, she was seeing moreof the world than ever beforefrom high above, cling-ing to the broad back of Nink. It was an unlikely posi-tion for either of them, but shed been in it for most ofthe night and part of a day. Her first uvak-flight. Itwasnt by choice.

    The hours after the explosion on the mountain hadntgone that badly, she thought. Audience members at thehearing had fled to their homes. Shed done the sameafter Dazh and his cohorts left together, quibbling over

    signs and portents.By the next morning, however, the mood of the town

    had changed. The faraway Cetajan peak was stillsmoking, but it had become clear that it posed no dan-ger to Tahv or the villages farther down the watershed.It was safe for everyone to go outsideout to Adaris

    front yard, to express their feelings about her faithless

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    words and the smoldering addition to the skyline theyhad caused. The Skyborn didlisten. What other proofwas needed? If the Keshiri couldnt silence Adari Vaal,

    theyd at least make sure their voices were louder thanhers.Theyd been doing a good job of it when Adari sent

    Eulyn and the kids out to take refuge at her unclesplace. The growing crowd, still pelting the house withrocks, had parted to let the innocents leave. But themob had stayed straight through the afternoon rain

    and by sunset, the Neshtovar themselves were outside,their uvak tethered safely away from the throng. By thetime Izri Dazh had hobbled up the steps to pound onher door, Adari had seen the first torches lit outside.

    That had been enough for her. The torches couldvebeen for lightbut they might have been for something

    worse. Shed clearly exceeded whatever protection awidow of an uvak-rider was afforded. The Keshiriwerent big on violence, but they didnt have a lot ofvariety in their social sanctions, either. Judging that itdidnt look like a banishing kind of crowd, Adari hadturned in desperation to her own backyard, and thatleast liked portion of her legacy: Nink.

    Her departure over the rooftop had surprised thepeople out front almost as much as the maneuvers suc-cess had surprised her. The uvak was most surprised ofall. With his rider gone, Nink could have expectednever to be ridden again. Uvak took to new riders soseldom that they were promptly put out to stud.

    Awakening to Adari trying to clamber aboard his fleshyback, Nink could have done anything, gone anywhere.

    He went up.She had spent the rest of that night alternately

    screaming and dodging pursuit by Neshtovar fliers. Thelatter feat was made easier by Ninks insistence on soar-

    ing far out over the ocean. Those had been the worst

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    moments for Adari, who knew the animals past. Butsomething on the uvaks part, perhaps curiosity, kepthim from sending her to Zharis grave. Just before

    dawn, Nink had finally found a seaside mountainroost, where Adari immediately collapsed with exhaus-tion. Amazingly, when she awoke, the uvak was stillthere, stuffing his beak with what little foliage therewas. Home clearly wasnt looking that attractive toNink anymore, either.

    Now, on the second morning since the explosion,

    Adari saw that her directionless night flight had takenher near the source of anxiety. The Cetajan Range wasa chain of craggy goliaths slivered from the mainlanda prominent part of the horizon when seen from theinterior, but as inaccessible as places on the westernshoreline got. An expedition of rock hunters had

    brought back what little Adari knew of the placeandthat had required a sympathetic volunteer Neshtovariwilling to fly a sample return mission. Seeing the moun-tain ahead of her, Adari was overtaken by the urge tosee the truth up close. If the explosion wasnt volcanic,it could set things right with her and the community.And if the mountain was suddenly volcanic, she wascurious about that, too. What was the processinvolved?

    Or were the scholars wrong about the makeup of therange? Had the uvak-rider flubbed the sample?

    That was probably it. Adaris anger rose as Nink did,the uvak comfortably clearing the chain in preparation

    for an oceanside approach. It would be poetic, Adarithought, if the one project the scholars had entrusted toa Neshtovar had resulted in wrong information.Cetajan Range samples, nothing, she thought. The idiot

    probably brought us rocks from his front path! Sheshuddered, and not just from the chilly air. Why should

    she be made to suffer for their colossal

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    Suddenly the source of the smoke column came intoview. Adari nearly fell off Nink right then. Shed halfexpected to see an open caldera, steaming like the

    smokerssmoke really was a misnomershed seen inthe south. Instead, a massive shining shell sat in anindentation on the seaward side of the mountain. Thatwas the word that entered her mind, even if the scalewas completely wrong: its sharp, corrugated ridgesresembled the ancient conchs shed seen returned fromthe seabed. But this shell was the size of the Circle

    Eternal!And this shell had smokenot steambillowing

    from several ruptures. Tremendous grooves gougedbehind the body showed it had struck downward at anangle. The fires inside were now nearly spent, but shecould tell from the melted mangle that they must have

    been far larger once. The explosion producing theplume visible from the inland side must have happenedright when it landed, she thought.

    Landed?Before Adari could contemplate this, movement

    caught her eye. One of the apertures in the shell dis-gorged something, something that struck the gravelbelow and disappeared in a slide of dust. She nudgedthe uvak nearer. A flash of crimson light appeared inthe small cloudand at its end . . .

    . . . a man.The man looked up at her. He was pale of face,

    lighter than the sickest Keshiri she had ever seen. And

    in his left hand was a shaft of brilliant red light the sizeof Izris cane.

    Was it in his handor was it part of his hand? Adaripanicked, and Nink agreed, swooping out of the way.A violent but welcome updraft yanked them both backout over the sea.

    Adari shook her head violently and closed her eyes as

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    Nink found smoother air. What had she seen? It hadthe shape of a man, yes. Hair, darker than anyKeshiribut then that red light. What was that light?

    And there was something else moving on the mountain,too, something shed seen out of the corner of her eye.Was the shell a nest of some kind?

    She swallowed hard, her throat raw from the windand elevation. It was all too macabre. Sample returnmissions, Neshtovar inquestsnone of her past con-cerns stood for anything against what shed seen.

    Opening her eyes, she brought Nink around on a loop-ing approach parallel to the jagged beach. The giantshell perched near the end of a sheer drop-off, farabove. Shed approach from below, this time, risingcarefully until she could get a closer look.

    Adari soon realized that her plan, while reasonable,

    was wholly unsuited for a novice rider. Nink strainedagainst her, taking her on a spiraling route to the topthat wrenched her stomach. Dizzy, she fought to keepher eye on the cliff top. The figure from before wasthere, without the bright red light. But holding some-thing else

    Something whizzed past, hurtling downward at suchspeed that Nink withdrew his wings in fear. Adarislipped for real this time, tumbling backward. Flailing,she caught the uvaks clawed foot with one arm on theway downand desperately wrapped her other armaround it. Nink!

    She strained to look up, but Nink was on the move,

    sailing away from the crest and its strange goings-on asfast as his reptile wings could carry them. Dangling, shesaw that Nink was making for the safety of their ear-lier roost, farther up the chain. Hed obviously hadenough surprises for one day.

    So had she. But at least she was getting used to them.

    Or so she thought.

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    * * *Shortly before the sun slipped behind the western

    ocean, she watched the last wisps of smoke disappear

    from the mountaintop. Adari didnt think Nink couldbe coaxed up there again before her water-pouch ranout. The dried brekka beets were already gone. Shedleft so quickly she hadnt restocked her expeditionpack.

    Now, sitting on a ledge and watching the sunset, shedrew an invisible continent on her knee, wondering

    how far she would have to fly to reach any settlementthat had not heard of her plight. There probably wasntsuch a place. The Neshtovar werent just the peace-keepers and lawgivers, they were the communicationssystem that made far-flung Kesh one world. Circuit rid-ers would have already spread the word from Tahv to

    the elder riders in each village. She had escaped, butfreedom was no deliverance for her.

    Deliverance.The word reached her on the wind. It wasnt even a

    word, reallynot one she had heard before. A strange,melodic combination of syllables that meant nothing toher ear. Yet her mind recognized it as a familiar con-cept: deliverance.

    Instinctively, she looked back toward the mysteriouspeak, drowning in shadow. Lights winked in the darknessnear its massive base. Firesbut not the uncontrolledfires that must have been present at the mountaintop.These fires had been set.

    Adari sprang to her feet, losing her water-pouch overthe edge. The Neshtovar! Theyd hunted her here, andtheyd camped, and in the morning, theyd find her!They wouldnt wait to find out what shed seen atopthe mountain, not when shed compounded her crimeby daring to fly Nink.

    A breeze was blowing to the sea from the direction of

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    the mountain. Cool, calming. Deliverance, came theword again. Another feeling followed, complex andemphatic: We are yoursand you are ours.

    Adari blinked back bewildered tears and steppedtoward the sleeping uvak. The wind rose again.Come to us.

    Shed been wrong to come here. The sky had told herto, but it didnt seem like any kind of deliverance Adariknew.

    Her nose crinkled at the stench. The gully was dark,but it was clear something awful had been burnedthere. Even the sulfurous pits of the south werent thisbad. She looked back at Nink, yawning in the woodsand unwilling to follow her farther. Wise animal.

    The active fires were ahead, through trees over the

    hill. Air caressed her as she crept up. Whatever theywere burning, it wasnt what was in the gully.

    In the clearing below, Adari saw them: people. Asmany people as had been at her final hearing, onlygathered around multiple campfires. She again thoughtof the Neshtovar lying in wait for her. If so, then herarriving on foot was probably for the best. She strainedto make out their voices as she approached. She recog-nized one, but not his words. She crept closer

    and left her feet entirely, hurtling toward a tree.Flailing, Adari slammed hard against it, collapsingbreathlessly at its base. Figures rushed at her from theshadows. Scrambling, she saw themtheir bodies illu-

    minated not by the fires, but from stalks of magentaenergy emanating from their hands, just like she hadseen before. She tripped over a root. No!

    She never hit the ground. An unseen force yanked herthrough the maze of figures, depositing her abruptlybefore the largest bonfire. Rising, her back to the

    flames, she looked at the advancing wraiths. They were

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    people, but not like her. Not purple, but beige, brown,red, and moreevery color but what they were sup-posed to be. And some faces werent like hers at all.

    Tiny tentacles wiggled on red jowls. A fat, leprous fig-ure, twice as bulky as the rest and with a hide likeNinks, stood behind them all, grunting gutturally.

    Adari screamedbut they werent listening. Theywere all around her now, man, woman, and monster,shouting gibberish. She mashed her hands to her ears.It did no good. The words were digging past her ears.

    Digging at her mind.Mental pinpricks became knives. Adari reeled. The

    strangers surged forward physically and ethereallypushing, scraping, searching. Waves of images flashedbefore her, of her sons, her house, her peopleevery-thing that was Adari, everything that was Kesh. She still

    saw mouths moving, but the cacophony now boomedinside her head. Words, meaningless words . . .

    . . . that somehow began connecting with familiarimpressions. As with the breeze before, the voices werealien, but she could feel the sounds coalescing aroundrational thoughts.

    You are here.There are others. There are others.Bring them here.Take us there!Bring them here!Adari spun, or all of Kesh did. Above her, the group

    parted for a new arrival. It was a woman. Darker-

    skinned than the others, she held a baby tightly swad-dled in a red cloth. Mother, Adari thought against theclamorous assault. A sign of hope. Mercy.

    BRING THEM HERE BRING THEM HEREBRING THEM HERE!

    Adari screamed, writhing against the unseen claws

    raking at her. The others were holding back. The

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    woman above was not. Adari reeled. She thought shesaw the veined wings of Nink, flying overhead andaway.

    A hand appeared on the mothers shoulder frombehind, drawing her back. The din faded from Adarismind. She looked up to seeZhari Vaal?

    No, she realized, as her teary eyes focused. Anotherof the strangely clad figures, but short and stocky likeher husband. She had once imagined Zhari at the bot-tom of the sea, his rich mauve color drained. This man

    was paler still, but his dark shock of hair and reddishbrown eyes gave him a confident, compelling look. Shehad seen him before, on the mountain. She had heardhim before, on the wind.

    Korsin, he said, simultaneously in her mind andwith a voice as soothing as her grandfathers. He ges-

    tured to himself. I am called Korsin.Blackness closed around her.

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    And they talked. Awkwardly, at first, with Hestuspiping in occasionally to repeat a new Keshiri word shehad said, followed by his own languages equivalent.

    Adari had marveled. The Keshiri words Hestus spokesounded exactly like what shed saidin her ownvoice, even. Korsin had explained that Hestuss specialear gave him that talent, helping to speed along theexchange of information.

    Adari was interested in that exchange, but most ofthe information had gone the other way. She gathered

    that the people Korsin led had indeed come from thesilver shell, and that it had somehow fallen from thesky. It was also clear that, powerful as they were, theyhad no means of leaving the mountain now, isolated asit was by water and forbidding terrain. Korsin had lis-tened with interest as she spoke about Kesh and the

    Keshiri, of uvak and villages on the mainland. Shedmentioned the Skyborn only once, before stopping innear embarrassment. She didnt know who the new-comers were, but she felt abashed bringing it up.

    Now, on the third afternoon since her arrival, Adariwas speaking comfortably with the newcomersandhad even picked up some words in their language her-self. They were something called Sith, and Korsinwas human. She repeated the words. Youre a goodlistener, Korsin said, encouraged. He said others hadworked with her as she slepthe did not say howtotry to improve communications. Now they were pro-gressing quickly, and it was not all their doing. Even

    overwrought, Adari remained sharp.Our immediate concern, Adari Vaal, Korsin said,

    emptying a glistening pouch of powder into a cup forher, must be to reach the mainland. There wasntfood or shelter enough for his people here, and themountain had sheer drop-offs to the sea below. Her

    uvak might have provided an exit for someone, but

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    Nink, as fearful of the newcomers as he was of themountains native wildlife, had spent the last few daysfar out of reach, above.

    Drinking the brothit was filling, not unlike her moth-ers stew, she thoughtAdari wrestled with the problem.Nink mightcome when she called, but only if she wasstanding in the open, alone. She could fly to land andreturn with help. I couldnt take any riders, though.Nink might not appear if she was accompanied, and anovice rider could never carry a passenger in any event.

    Id have to go alone. But Id return as soon as I could.She will not!Adari knew the voice before she even looked up. The

    screamer. The mother of the small child charged towardthe smoldering campfire. She will abandon us!

    Korsin rose and took the woman aside. Adari heard

    heated words exchanged, unfamiliar ones. But in bid-ding the woman away, he spoke words Adari did rec-ognize: We are her deliverance, and she is ours.

    Adari watched the woman, still glaring at her fromafar. She doesnt like me.

    Seelah? Korsin shrugged. Shes concerned overher matelost from the crash site. And with a child,shes anxious to leave this mountain. He smiled, offer-ing to help Adari stand. As a mother, Im sure youunderstand.

    Adari gulped. She hadnt mentioned her children.Shed barely even thought about them since she arrivedamong the newcomers, she realized. Shaking her head

    in guilt, she revealed something else: that the Keshirimight not listen to her.

    Korsin seemed unsurprisedand unruffled. Youresmart, Adari. Youll make them listen. He gentlywrapped her shoulders with the azure blanket shedslept beneath. Keep this, he said. The suns setting

    soon. It could be a cold ride.

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    Adari looked around. Seelah stood in silent fury,unmoved from before. The others Korsin had intro-duced eyed their leader nervously; red tentacle-jowled

    Ravilan exchanged a worried look with Hestus. Eventhe hulking Gloyd, who, despite his brutish appear-ance, was clearly Korsins greatest ally here, shifteduncomfortably. But no one barred her from leavingtheir campsite.

    When a strong hand did stop her at the edge of theclearing, she was surprised to see whose it was:

    Korsins. About the Keshiri, Korsin said. You toldus about Tahv, your townit sounds a good size. Buthow many are the Keshiri? How many Keshiri are therein all, I mean?

    Adari answered immediately. Were numberless.Ah, Korsin said, his posture softening. You mean

    they have never been counted.No, Adari said. I mean, we dont have a number

    that large.Korsin froze, his grip on her arm tightening. His dark

    eyes, slightly smaller than a Keshiris, focused on thewilderness beyond. Shed never seen him unnerved. Ifthis was it, it lasted less than a second before he steppedback.

    Before you leave, he said, finding a tree to leanagainst, tell me what you know about the Skyborn.

    Korsin had called the vessel he arrived in Omen. Theword not only existed in the Keshiri tongue, but was a

    long-held favorite of the Neshtovar. Watching whatwas happening now on the plaza known as the CircleEternal, Adari guessed even the uvak-riding chiefs wererealizing the irony.

    She had returned to Korsin after a single day, one fullweek after Omen had collided with the mountainand

    with her life. It had been a simple matter for her to

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    attract the uvak-riders there; as soon as the patrolsspotted her and Nink, they followed the whole way tothe Cetajan Range. The place had been the scene for

    several surprises in recent times, but none trumped themoment when the Neshtovar came upon Adari stand-ing defiantly amid 240 supportive visitors from above,almost every one signaling his or her presence with aglowing ruby lightsaber. She didnt have one of thestrange devices, but she glowed just the same fromwithin. Adari Vaal, collector of rocks and enemy of

    order was now Adari Vaal, discoverer and rescuer;answerer of the mountains call.

    Add prophet to that, she thought as she watchedthe dozen score visitorssome hobbling from theirordealenter the Circle Eternal. They passed betweengawking, silent crowds of Keshiri, many of the same

    people from her door the week before. Ahead in theCircle, all the Neshtovar in the region were present,more than shed ever seen. Three days of aerial rescueoperations had brought the newcomers off the moun-tain, days in which the word had gone out far into thehinterlands.

    The Skyborn had arrived on Kesh.No lesser reason could explain why the riders com-

    pliantly took their positions not in the Circle Eternalitself, but along the raised perimeter. The villagers hadwatched Adaris hearing from here; now the Neshtovarwere watching her in the Circle, marching along behindKorsin. Behind them, the visitors filed in, forming their

    own inner perimeter over which the Neshtovar strainedto see.

    Izri Dazh looked small, standing beneath the col-umn three times his height that served as the sundialsgnomon. Normally, it made him seem larger. Nottoday. He limped forward and greeted Korsin and

    company with mawkish words of praise before turn-

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    ing to the audience. Straining to see over the line ofvisitors, Izri made the declaration official. These werethe Skyborn, he said, come down from the very

    mountain from which their servants had broughtback the law centuries earlier. It wasnt the samemountain, Adari knew; perhaps the texts would bechanged later. But Izri ignored that detail for now.The visitors had established their identities to the sat-isfaction of all of the Neshtovar, he said.

    You didnt believe them when they levitated your

    cane, Adari whispered, unable to resist.That ended when they levitated me, Izri rasped,

    under his breath. He turned back to see the villagerscheeringnot for his proclamation, but for YaruKorsin, Grand Lord of the Skyborn, who had justphysically leapt the distance to the top of the col-

    umn.When the cheering finally died down, Korsin spoke in

    the Keshiri words that his interlocutor, the honoredAdari Vaal, Daughter of the Skyborn, had taught himthat morning. We have come from above, as you say,he said, deep voice carrying to all. We have come tovisit the land that was a piece of us, and the people ofthat land. And Kesh has welcomed us.

    More cheering. We will found . . . a temple atop themountain of discovery, he continued. We will bemany months in labors there, tending to the vessel thatbrought us and communing with the heavens. And inthat time, we will make our home here in Tahv, with

    our childrenaided by the Neshtovar, who were suchgood stewards here in our absence. They will leave heretoday, taking wing to all corners of Kesh, to spread theword of our arrival, and find the artisans we require.He spoke over the applause. We are the Skybornandwe willreturn to the stars!

    Happy chaos. Adaris younger son, Tona, squirmed

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    against her. She spied her mother and Finn at an hon-ored place just outside the Circle, beaming happily.Adari looked up at Korsinand swallowed hard.

    It was all so perfect.And all so wrong.

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    him at a dig on the edge of the Cetajan Range, in sightof the ocean she fled to a month before. The Skybornneeded structures to stabilize and protect Omen, but

    first they needed a clear land passage onto the peninsula.A route was taking shape with the Skyborn, whosenumber included many miners, hewing huge chunks ofstrata with their lightsabers.

    Sabersll do better when we recover some of theLignan crystals to power them, Gloyd said. Korsinpresented a rock sample to Adari. Granite. The efforts

    were not for her, of course, but shed always wonderedwhat was below. Now she knew.

    You were right after all, Korsin said, watching herstudy the stone. She hadnt mentioned her conflict withthe Neshtovar, but shed been anxious to confirm hertheories with someone who knew. Volcanos did form

    new land. And the mountains of the Cetajan Rangewerent volcanoeswhile granite did come frommagma, they told her, it was formed far undergroundover the course of eons. That was why its rocks lookeddifferent from the flamestones. I dont understand halfwhat my miners tell me, Korsin said, but they say youcould easily help themif you werent helping me.

    Korsin began speaking with Gloyd about their nextproject, a dig to find metals necessary to repair Omen.Adari started to interject when she saw Seelah orbiting.Adari shuddered as the woman passed from sight.What had Adari done to earn such hatred?

    Shes not staring at me, Adari realized. Shes staring

    at Korsin.I saw you, Adari blurted to Korsin.What?I saw you a second time on the mountain, that day.

    You threw something over the side.Korsin turned from his work. He gesturedand

    Gloyd stepped away.

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    I saw you throw something, Adari said, swallow-ing. She looked down at the ocean, crashing against thecliffs. I didnt know whatuntil you sent me to return

    to the village. Korsin stepped warily toward her. Adaricouldnt stop talking. I flew down there, Korsin. I sawhim below, on the rocks. He was a man, she said, likeyou.

    Like me? Korsin snorted. Is . . . he still there?She shook her head. I turned him over to look at

    him, she said. The tide swept him away.

    Korsin was her height, but as she shrank, he loomed.You saw thisand yet you still brought the Neshtovarto find us.

    Adari froze, unable to answer. She looked at therocks, far below, so like the ones farther up the range.Korsin reached for her as he had before . . .

    . . . and drew back. His voice softened. Your peopleturned on you to protect their society. You were a dan-ger?

    How did he know? Adari looked up at Korsin. Helooked less like Zhari all the time. I believed some-thing they didnt.

    Korsin smiled and took her hand gently. Thats afight my people are familiar with. That man you sawhe was a danger to our society.

    But he was your brother.Korsins grip tightened for a moment before he let go

    altogether. You are a good listener, he said, straight-ening. The fact wouldnt have been hard to learn. Yes,

    he was my brother. But he was a dangerand we haddangers enough when you found us, he said. Helooked deeply into her eyes. And I think this is some-thing you know something about, Adari. That same seatook someone from you, too. Didnt it?

    Adaris mouth opened. How? Zhari had died there,

    but the Neshtovar would never have told Korsin.

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    Speaking of a riders fall broke their greatest taboo:falling was being claimed by the Otherside. No one hadseen it happen, save for Ninkand the all-seeing

    Skyborn.Korsin was either a mind reader, or he was who hesaid he was. Her words barely came out. Itits notthe same. You pushed that man. I didnt have anythingto do with what happened to my

    Of course you didnt. Accidents happen. But youdidnt mind that he died, he said. I can see it in you,

    Adari. He was a danger to youto the person yourebecoming. Korsins bushy eyebrows turned up.Youre glad hes gone.

    Adari closed her eyes. Putting his arm around hershoulder, Korsin turned her toward the sun. Its allright, Adari. Among the Sith, there is no shame in it.

    You would never be what you are today with him keep-ing you down. Just as youd never be what youre goingto become with Izri Dazh keeping you down.

    At the name, Adaris eyes opened. The sunlight dazzledher, but Korsin wouldnt let her turn away. You wereafraid of us, he said, and afraid when you saw thebody. You knew wed die on the mountain if you didntbring help. Yet you brought the Neshtovar anywaybecause you thought we could help you against them.

    He released her. Adari looked blankly at the sun foranother moment before looking away. Behind her,Korsin spoke in the soothing tones hed used when hisvoice had first reached her on the wind.

    Helping us interact with the Keshiri is not just abouthelping us, Adari. You will learn things about yourworld that you never imagined. He turned over therock in her hand. I dont know how long were goingto be here, but I promise you will learn more in the nextfew months than you have in your entire lifetime. Than

    any Keshiri has.

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    Adari shook. Whatwhat do youA simple thing. Forget what you saw that day.

    Korsin made good on his word. In her first monthswith the Skyborn, Adari had learned much about herhome. But she had also learned some things aboutwhere they had come from, and who they were. Shewas a good listener. By simple things, we know theworld.

    Korsins Sith were the beings from above that she

    deniedbut they werent the gods of Keshiri legend.Not exactly. They had amazing powers, and perhapsthey lived in the stars. But they didnt bleed sand, andthey werent perfect. They argued. They envied. Theykilled.

    The Sith did read minds, to a degree. Korsin had used

    that to call out to her for help after seeing her in the air.But they werent omniscient. Shed found that out witha simple, surreptitious experiment involving Ravilan.Shed suggested he visit a restaurant deep in Tahvsbusiest quarter. Off he went, getting lost in the sameneighborhood she always got lost in. The Siths percep-tive powers were amazing, but they still required accu-rate knowledge from others.

    She sought to provide that, accompanying Korsin tomany work sites, mostly employing jovial Keshirilaborers. The Skyborn were perfect enough for theKeshiriand perfect enough for her. Yaru Korsin wasas far beyond Zhari Vaal in intellect as she was above

    the rocks, and as long as she learned to avoid the eye ofSeelah, another widow of a fallen man, she couldexpect to learn a great deal more.

    At the same time her knowledge advanced, Izris faithwas further glorified. She took little joy in that, apartfrom the occasional chuckle she got from having a

    more storied role in it than he had. She was the

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    Discoverer, always to be remembered by Keshiri soci-ety. No one would remember Izri.

    Watching another quarry being constructed, she

    wondered what that society would look like. Sheknew something the Sith didnt: Theyd be here for along time. Shed mentioned it once to a miner, whopromptly discounted it as advice from the local know-nothings.

    But she knew. The metals the Sith sought werent inthe soil of Kesh. Scholars had scoured every part of the

    continent. They had recorded what theyd found. If thesubstances Korsins people required hid farther beneaththe surface, it would take time to find thema lotmoretime.

    Time, the Sith had.What, she wondered, would the Keshiri have?

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    Read on for an excerpt from

    Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Abyss

    by Troy DenningPublished by Del Rey Books

    In the Jade Shadows forward canopy hung twinblack holes, their perfect darkness surrounded by fierywhorls of accretion gas. Because the Shadow wasapproaching at an angle, the two holes had the oblong

    appearance of a pair of fire-rimmed eyesand BenSkywalker was half tempted to believe thats what theywere. He had begun to feel like he was being watchedthe instant he and his father had entered the Mawcluster, and the deeper they advanced, the stronger thesensation grew. Now, at the very heart of the concen-tration of black holes, the feeling was a constant chill

    at the base of his skull.I sense it, too, his father said. He was sitting

    behind Ben in the copilots seat, up on the primaryflight deck. Were not alone in here.

    No longer surprised that the Grand Master of theJedi Order always seemed to know his thoughts, Ben

    glanced at an activation reticle in the front of the cock-pit. A small section of canopy opaqued into a mirror,and he saw his fathers reflection staring out the side ofthe canopy. Luke Skywalker looked more alone andpensive than Ben ever remembered seeing himthoughtful, but not sad or frightened, as though he

    were merely trying to understand what had brought

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    him to such a dark and isolated place, banished froman Order he had founded, and exiled from a society hehad spent his life fighting to defend.

    Trying not to dwell on the injustice of the situation,Ben said, So maybe were closing in. Not that Im allthat eager to meet a bunch of beings called the MindDrinkers.

    His father thought for a moment, then said, Well,I am.

    He didnt elaborate, and he didnt need to. Ben and

    his father were on a mission to retrace Jacen Solos five-year odyssey of Force exploration. At their last stop,they had learned from an Aing-Tii monk that Jacen hadbeen bound for the Maw when he departed the KatholRift. Since one purpose of their journey was to deter-mine whether Jacen had been nudged toward the dark

    side by something on his voyage, it only made sensethat Luke would want to investigate a mysteriousMaw-dwelling group known as the Mind Drinkers.

    What impressed Ben, however, was how calm hisfather seemed about it all. Ben was privately terrified offalling victim to the same darkness that had claimed hiscousin. Yet his father seemed eager to step into its depthand strike a flame. And why shouldnt he be? Aftereverything that Luke Skywalker had suffered andachieved in his lifetime, there was no power in thegalaxy that could draw him into darkness. It was astrength that both awed Ben and inspired him, one thathe wondered if he would ever find himself.

    Lukes eyes shifted toward the mirrored canopy section,and he caught Bens gaze. Is this what bothered youwhen you were at Shelter? He was referring to a timethat was ancient history to Benthe last part of the warwith the Yuuzhan Vong, when the Jedi had been forced tohide their young at a secret base deep inside the Maw.

    Did you feel like someone was watching you?

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    Troy Denning34

    How should I know? Ben asked, suddenlyuneasyand unsure why. By all accounts, he had beenan unruly, withdrawn toddler while he was at Shelter,

    and he recalled being afraid of the Force for years after-ward. But he had no clear memories of Shelter itself, orwhat it had felt like to be there. I was two.

    You did have feelings when you were two, hisfather said mildly. You did have a mind.

    Ben sighed, knowing what his father wanted, thensaid, Youd better take the ship.

    I have the ship, Luke confirmed, reaching for thecopilots yoke. Just close your eyes. Let the Force carryyour thoughts back to Shelter.

    I know how to meditate. Almost instantly, Ben feltbad for grumbling and added, But thanks for theadvice.

    Dont mention it, Luke said in a good-naturedway. Thats what fathers dooffer unwanted advice.

    Ben closed his eyes and began to breathe slowly anddeliberately. Each time he inhaled, he drew the Forceinto himself, and each time he exhaled, he sent it flow-ing throughout his body. He had no conscious memoriesof Shelter that were his own, so he envisioned a holo-graph of the facility that he had seen in the Jedi Archives.The image showed a handful of habitation modulesclinging to the surface of an asteroid fragment, theirdomes clustered around the looming cylinder of a powercore. In his minds eye, Ben descended into the gaudyyellow docking bay at the edge of the facility . . . and

    then he was two years old again, a frightened little boyholding a strangers hand as his parents departed in the

    Jade Shadow.An unwarranted sense of relief welled up inside Ben

    as he grew lost in a time when life had seemed so mucheasier. The last fourteen years began to feel like a long,

    terrible nightmare. Jacens fall to the dark side had

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    35Star Wars : Fate of the Jedi: Abyss

    never happened, Ben had not been molded into an ado-lescent assassin, and his mother had not died fightingJacen. All those sad memories were still just bad

    dreams, the unhappy imaginings of a frightened youngmind.Then the Shadow slipped through the containment

    field and ignited her engines. In the blink of an eye shedwindled from a trio of blue ion circles into a pinpointof light to nothing at all, and suddenly Ben was alonein the darkest place in the galaxy, one child among

    dozens entrusted to a small group of worried adultswhodespite their cheerful voices and reassuring pres-enceshad very clammy palms and scary, anxious eyes.

    Two-year-old Ben reached toward the Shadow withhis free hand and his heart, and he sensed his motherand father reaching back. Though he was too young to

    know he was being touched through the Force, hestopped being afraid . . . until a dark tentacle of needbegan to slither up into the aching tear of his abandon-ment. He thought for an instant that he was just sadabout being left behind, but the tentacle grew as real ashis breath, and he began to sense in it an alien loneli-ness as desperate and profound as his own. It wantedto draw him close and keep him safe, to take the placeof his parents and never let him be alone again.

    Terrified and confused, young Ben pulled away,simultaneously drawing in on himself and yanking hishand from the grasp of the silver-haired lady who washolding it.

    Then suddenly he was back in the cockpit of theJadeShadow, staring into the fire-rimmed voids ahead.Scattered around their perimeter were the smallerwhorls of half a dozen more distant rings, their fierylight burning bright and steady against the starlessmurk of the deep Maw.

    Well? his father asked. Anything feel familiar?

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    Troy Denning36

    Ben swallowed. He wasnt sure why, but he foundhimself wanting to withdraw from the Force all overagain. Are we sure we need to find these guys?

    Luke raised a brow. So it is familiar.Maybe. Ben couldnt say whether the two feelingswere related, and at the moment he didnt care. Therewas something hungry in the Maw, something thatwould still be there waiting for him. I mean, the Aing-Tii call them Mind Drinkers. That cant be good.

    Ben, youre changing the subject. Lukes tone was

    more interested than disapproving, as though Bensbehavior were only one part of a much larger puzzle.Is there something you dont want to talk about?

    I wish. Ben told his father about the dark tentaclethat had reached out to him after the Shadow departedShelter so many years ago. I guess what were feeling

    now might be related. There was definitelysome . . . thing keeping tabs on me at Shelter.

    Luke considered this for a moment, then shook hishead. You were pretty attached to your mother.Maybe you were just feeling abandoned and made up afriend to take her place.

    A tentacle friend?You said it was a dark tentacle, Luke continued

    thoughtfully, and guilt is a dark emotion. Maybe youwere feeling guilty about replacing us with an imagi-nary friend.

    And maybe you dont want to believe the tentaclewas real because it would mean you left your two-year-

    old son someplace really dangerous, Ben countered.He caught his fathers eye in the mirrored section again.I hope youre not going to try to psychoanalyze thisaway, because theres a big hole in your theory.

    Luke frowned. And that would be?I was two, Ben reminded him. And by all accounts,

    I didnt feel guilty about anythingat that age.

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    Luke grinned. Good point, but I still dont think weshould worry too much about this tentacle monster ofyours.

    Its not my tentacle monster, Ben retorted, miffedat having his concerns mocked. Youre the one whomade me dredge it up.

    Lukes expression hardened into admonishment.But youre the one whos still afraid of it.

    The observation struck home. Whether or not thedark presence he remembered was real, he had emerged

    from Shelter wary of abandonment and frightened ofthe Force. And it had been those fears that had allowedJacen to lead him into darkness.

    Ben sighed. Right. Whatever this thing is, Ive got toface it. After a moment, he asked, So how do we findthese Mind Drinkers?

    The Path of True Enlightenment runs through theChasm of Perfect Darkness. Luke was quotingTadarRo, the Aing-Tii monk who had told them thatJacen had left the Kathol Rift to search out the MindDrinkers. The way is narrow and treacherous, but ifyou can follow it, you will find what you seek.

    Ben swung his gaze toward the black holes ahead. Thebrilliant whorls of their accretion disks were burninghottest and brightest along their inner rims, where a mix-ture of in-falling gas and dust was being compressed tounimaginable densities as it vanished into the sharp-edged darkness of twin event horizons.

    Wait. TadarRo said perfect darkness, right? Ben

    started to have a bad feeling about the monks instruc-tions. Like, beyond an event horizon?

    Actually, its probably very bright on the way downa black hole, Luke pointed out. Just because gravityis too strong for light to escape doesnt mean it cantexist, and theres all that gas compressing and glowing

    as its sucked deeper and deeper.

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    39Star Wars : Fate of the Jedi: Abyss

    Ben deactivated the mirror panel and acceleratedtoward the black holes. As the Shadow drew closer,their dark orbs rapidly began to swell and drift toward

    opposite sides of the cockpit, until all that could be seenof them were tall slivers of darkness hanging along therear edges of the canopy. Ahead lay a fiery confluenceof superheated gas, swirling in from two different direc-tions and so bright it hurt Bens eyes even through theShadows blast-tinting.

    He checked the primary display and found only

    bright static; the navigation sensors were awash in elec-tromagnetic blast from compressing gas. The Shadowsinternal sensors were working just fine, however, andthey showed the ships hull temperature rising rapidlyas they penetrated the cloud. It wouldnt take long forthat to become dangerous, Ben knew. Soon the fierce

    heat inside the accretion disk would start fouling guid-ance systems and control relays. Eventually, it wouldcompromise hull integrity.

    Dad, how about doing something with those sensorfilters? Ben asked. My navigational readings aresnow.

    Adjusting the filters wont change anything, Lukesaid calmly. Were flying between a pair of black holes,remember?

    Ben exhaled in exasperation, then cursed under hisbreath and continued to stare out into the fiery ribbonsahead. At best, he could make out a confluence zonewhere the two accretion disks were brushing against

    each other, and the painful brilliance made it difficult totell even that much.

    How am I supposed to navigate? Ben complained.I cant see anything.

    Luke remained silent.Ben felt the hint of disapproval in his fathers Force

    aura and experienced a flash of rebellion. He let out a

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    Troy Denning40

    cleansing breath, allowing the feeling to run its courseand depart on a cushion of stale air, then saw how hehad been blinded by his anxiety over the navigation

    difficulties.Oh . . . right, Ben said, feeling more than a littlefoolish. Trust the Force.

    No worries, Luke said, sounding amused. Thefirst time I tried something this crazy, I had to bereminded, too.

    Well, at least Ihave an excuse. Ben took the navi-

    gation sensors offline so the static wouldnt interferewith his concentration. Its hard to focus with yourdad looking over your shoulder.

    Lukes crash webbing clicked open. In that case,maybe I should get some

    Who are you kidding? Ben shoved the yoke over,

    flipping the Shadow into a tight barrel roll. You justwant to bite your nails in private.

    The thought hadnt crossed my mind, Luke said,dropping back into his seat. Until now, ungrateful off-spring.

    Ben laughed, then leveled out and checked the hulltemperature. It was climbing even faster than he hadfeared. He closed his eyes andhoping the gas was notso thick that friction would aggravate the problemshoved the throttles forward.

    It did not take long before Ben began to sense a calmplace a little to port. He adjusted course and extendedhis Force awareness in that direction, then started to

    feel a strange, nebulous presence that reminded him ofsomething he could not quite placeof something darkand diffuse, spread across a great distance.

    Ben opened his eyes again. Dad, do you feelYes, like the Killiks, Luke said. We might be deal-

    ing with a hive-mind.

    A cold shudder was already racing down Bens spine.

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    41Star Wars : Fate of the Jedi: Abyss

    His father had barely uttered the word Killiks beforethe memory of his stint as an unwilling Gorog Joinercame flooding back, and for the second time in less

    than an hour he found himself desperately wanting towithdraw from the Force. Gorog had been a dark sidenest, secretly controlling the entire Killik civilizationwhile it fed on captured Chiss, and Ben had fallenunder its sway for a short time when he was only five.It had been the most terrifying and confusing time ofhis childhood, and had Jacen not recognized what was

    happening and helped Ben find his way back to theForce and his true family, he doubted very much that hewould have been able to break free at all.

    Thankfully, the presence ahead was not all that simi-lar to Gorogs. There was certainly a darkness to it, andit was clearly composed of many different beings joined

    together across a vast distancemost of space ahead,really. But the distribution seemed more mottled than aKillik hive-mind, as though dozens of distinct individu-als were joined together in something vaguely similar toa battle-meld.

    Ben was about to clarify his impressions for hisfather when a familiar presence began to slither upinside him. It was cold and condemning, like a friendbetrayed, and he could feel how angry it was aboutthe intrusion into its lair. The Force grew stormy andforeboding, and an electric prickle of danger senseraced down Bens spine. He could feel the darknessgathering against him, trying to push him away, and

    that only hardened his resolve to finally face thespecter. He opened himself up, grabbed hold in theForce, and began to pull.

    The presence jerked back, then tried to shrink away.It was too late. Ben already had a firm grasp, and hewas determined to follow it back to its physical loca-

    tion. He checked the hull temperature and saw that it

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    was hovering in the yellow danger zone. Then hefocused his attention forward and sawactuallysawa thumbnail-sized darkness tunneling through

    the swirling fires ahead. He pointed their nose towardthe black oval, then shoved the throttles to the over-load stops and watched the fiery ribbons of gasstream past the cockpit.

    The ribbons grew brighter and more deeply coloredas the ship penetrated the accretion disk, and soon thegas grew so dense that the Shadow began to buck and

    shudder in its turbulence. Ben held on tight to theyoke . . . and to the dark presence he was clasping inthe Force.

    His fathers voice sounded behind him. Uh, Ben?Its okay, Dad, Ben said. Ive got an approach

    lane.

    A what? Luke sounded genuinely surprised. Ihope you realize the hull temperature is almost into thered.

    Dad! Ben snapped. Will you please let me con-centrate?

    Luke fell silent for a moment, then exhaled loudly.Ben, the gas here is too dense for these velocities.Were practically flying through an atmo

    Your idea, Ben interrupted. The black oval swelledto the size of a fist. Trust me!

    Ben, trust me doesnt work for Jedi the way it doesfor your uncle Han. We dont have his luck.

    Maybe that would change if we trusted it more

    often, Ben retorted.The black oval continued to expand until it was the

    size of a hatch. Ben fought the turbulence and some-how kept the Shadows nose pointed toward it, thenthe ship was inside the darkness, flying smooth andsurrounded by a dim cone of orange radiance. Startled

    by the abrupt transition and struggling to adjust to the

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    43

    sudden change of light, Ben feared for an instant thatthe dark presence had led him off-courseperhapseven out of the accretion disks altogether.

    Then the cone of orange began to simultaneouslycompress and fade, becoming a dark tunnel, and a farworse possibility occurred to him.

    Say, Dad, would we know if we were flying down ablack hole?

    Probably not, Luke said. The timespace distor-tion would make the journey last forever, at least rela-

    tive to Coruscant-standard time. Why do you ask?Oh, no reason, Ben said, deciding not to alarm his

    father any more than necessary. If he had flown thempast an event horizon, it was too late to do anythingabout it now. Just curious.

    Luke laughed, then said, Relax, Ben. Were not flying

    down a black holebut will you please slow down? Ifyou keep this up, you really are going to melt the hull.

    Ben glanced at his display and frowned. The hulltemperature had climbed into the critical zone, whichmade no sense at all. The surrounding darkness and thelack of turbulence meant they were no longer beingblasted by heat from the accretion disk. The hull oughtto be cooling rapidly, and if it wasnt . . .

    Ben jerked the throttles back and was pitchedagainst his crash webbing as friction instantly began toslow the Shadow. The area surrounding them wasntdark because it was emptyit was dark because itwas filled with cold matter. They had entered Stable

    Zone One, where gas, dust, and who-knew-what-elsewas floating in limbo between the two black holes.Worried that they werent decelerating fast enough, heused the maneuvering thrusters to slow the ship downeven further . . . then realized that during the excite-ment, he had lost contact with the dark presence he

    had been using as a reluctant guide.

    Star Wars : Fate of the Jedi: Abyss

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    Blast, Ben said. He expanded his Force awarenessagain, but felt only the same meldlike presence he hadsensed earlierand it was too diffuse to be much of a

    navigation beacon. Were back to flying blind. I cantfeel anything useful now.Thats not really a problem, Luke pointed out.

    Theres only one place in here where anything canhave a permanent habitat.

    Ben nodded. Right.Stable Zone One wasnt actually very stable. Even the

    slightest perturbation would start a mass on a long,slow fall into one of the adjacent gravity wells.Therefore, anything permanently located inside thezone could only be at the precise center, because thatwas the only place where the forces were in absoluteequilibrium.

    Ben brought the navigation sensors back up. This time,the screen showed nothing but a small fan of light at thebottom, rapidly fading to darkness as the signals wereobscured by cold gas and dust. He activated the Shadowsforward flood lamps and continued onward. The beamstunneled ahead for perhaps a kilometer before vanishinginto the black fog of dust and gas. Ben decelerated evenfurther, then adjusted headings until all external forcesaffecting the Shadows travel vector were exactly zero,and set a waypoint. Theoretically, at least, they were nowon course for the heart of the stable zone.

    When Ben shifted his attention forward again, he sawa blue fleck of debris floating in the light beam ahead.

    He instantly fired the maneuvering thrusters to deceler-ate again, but in space, even a relative creep was avelocity of hundreds of kilometers an hour, and theycovered half the distance to the object before theShadow responded.

    Instead of the stony boulder or ice ball that Ben had

    expected, the object turned out to be a young Duros.

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    45Star Wars : Fate of the Jedi: Abyss

    Ben could tell that he was a Duros because he wasntwearing a pressure helmet, and his blue, noseless faceand big red eyes were clearly visible above the collar of

    a standard Jedi-issue flight suit. Hanging on his shoul-der was what, at that distance, appeared to be aportable missile launcher.

    Dad? Ben asked. Are you seeing this?Duros, no helmet?Right.Luke nodded. Then yes, I

    The Duros was silhouetted by a white flash, and thesilver halo of an oncoming missile began to swell infront of the Shadows cockpit. Ben shoved the yoke for-ward and hit the thrusters, but even a Jedis reflexeswerent that quick. A metallic bang echoed through thehull, and damage alarms began to shriek and blink. In

    almost the same instant, the Duros and the missilelauncher floated past mere meters above the cockpit,and the muffled thud of an impact sounded from farback in the stern.

    Definitely no hallucination, Luke commented.Dad, that looked likeQwallo Mode, I know, Luke replied. Mode was a

    young Jedi Knight who had disappeared on a standardcourier run about a year earlier. When an exhaustivesearch had failed to find any trace of him, the Mastershad finally concluded that he had perished. Hes along way from the Tapani sector.

    Assuming that was Qwallo. Ben extended his

    Force awareness behind them, but did not sense anyhint of the Jedis presence. Should I make anothersweep to see if we can recover him?

    Luke thought for a moment, then shook his head.Even if hes still alive, lets not give him another shotat the Shadow. Before we start taking those kinds of

    chances, we need to figure out whats going on here.

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    Yeah, Ben agreed. Like how come he didnt needa helmet.

    And how he got here in the first placeand why

    hes shooting at us. Luke clicked out of his crash web-bing, then added, Ill handle the damage. If you seeanyone else floating around with a missile launcher andno pressure suit, dont ask questions, just

    Open fire. Ben deployed the blaster cannons, thenchecked the damage display and saw that they werebleeding both air and hyperdrive coolant. To make

    matters worse, the yoke was sticking, and that couldmean a lot of thingsnone of them good. Got it.Weve taken enough damage.

    Ben switched his threat array to the primary display.At the top of the screen, the gray form of a mass shad-ow was clarifying out of the darkness. A yellow

    number-bar was adding tons to the mass estimate fasterthan the eye could follow, but he was alarmed to seethat it was already into the high five digits and climb-ing toward six. There was no indication yet of theobjects overall shape or energy output, but the tonnagealone suggested something at leastas large as an assaultcarrier.

    Unsure whether it was better to slow down to preventa collision or accelerate to avoid being an easy target,Ben started to weave and bob. There was just a vaguehint of danger tickling the base of his skull, but thatonly meant nothing had set its sights on the Shadowyet.

    On the third bob downward, the yoke jammed for-ward and wouldnt come back. Ben cursed and tried tomuscle it, but he was fighting the hydraulic system, andif he fought it too hard, he would break a control cable.He hit the emergency pressure release, dumping thecontrol systems entire reservoir into space, and then

    checked his threat array again.

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    47Star Wars : Fate of the Jedi: Abyss

    The mass ahead was no longer a shadow. A silvery,elongated oval had taken shape in the middle of the dis-play, the number-bar in its core now climbing past

    seven million tons. The oval was slowly drifting towardthe bottom of the screen and shedding alphanumericdesignators, indicating the presence of a debris field andthe danger of an impending collision with the objectitself. Ben hit the maneuvering thrusters hard, and theShadow decelerated.

    He heard a toolbox clang into the main cabins rear

    bulkhead, and his fathers alarmed voice came over theintercom speaker. What did you hit?

    Nothing yet. Ben pulled back on the yoke, usinghis own strength to force the vector plates down. Thecontrol yokes power assist is gone, and weve reacheda debris field.

    What sort of debris? his father demanded. Ice?Rock? Iron-nickel?

    Ben thumbed the SELECT bubble active and slid it overto one of the designators: OBJECT B8. An instant later adensity analysis offered a 71 percent probability thatOBJECT B8 was a medium transport of unknown makeand model.

    But Ben did not immediately relay the information tohis father. As the Shadows nose returned to its originalplane, an enormous, gray-white dome was slowly com-ing into view. Dropping down from above and upsidedown relative to the ship, the dome hung at the base ofa large, spinning cylinder ringed by a dozen small,

    attached tubes. Floating between the cylinder and theShadow were nearly twenty dark flecks with thesmooth lines and sharp corners suggestive of space-craft, all drifting aimlessly and as cold as asteroids.

    Ben, youre worrying me, his father admonished.How bad is it?

    Uh, I dont really know yet. As Ben spoke, the

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    Shadows lamp beams continued to slide up the spin-ning cylinder, to where it joined a gray metal spherethat looked to be about the size of one of Bespins

    smaller floating cities. But maybe you should comeback to the flight deck as soon as things are secure backthere.

    Yeah, Luke said. I was just thinking the samething.

    As the lamp beams continued to reveal more of thestationat least thats what Ben assumed he was

    looking athe began to grow even more confusedand worried. With a second, dome-capped cylinder ris-ing out of the sphere directly opposite the first, thething reminded him of a station he had helped infil-trate during the recent civil war. It didnt seem possiblethat two such structures could exist in the galaxy by

    mere coincidence, or that he would have happened onthis one by mere chance even if the two were related.He had the uneasy feeling that the Force was at playhereor, to be more precise, that the Force wasputting him in play.

    Now that they were actually in visual range of theirtarget, Ben brought the full suite of sensors back onlineand began to investigate. To both his relief and puzzle-ment, all of the contacts appeared to be derelict vessels.They ranged widely in size, from small space yachts likethe Shadow to an antiquated Tibanna tanker with acapacity in excess of a hundred million liters. Ben did aquick mental calculation of the total tonnage of the

    abandoned ships and shuddered. If these were capturedspoils, there were some very impressive pirates hidingaround here somewhere.

    Starting to envision sensor masks and ambushes, Benslid the Shadow into the cover of an old TGMMarauder. The ship looked as deserted as its sensor

    profile suggested, tumbling slowly with cold engines,

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    49Star Wars : Fate of the Jedi: Abyss

    open air locks, and no energy emanations whatsoever.But there was no apparent combat damage, or anythingelse, to suggest it had been taken by pirates.

    Ben turned the sensors on the station itself and foundit marginally less derelict. Its power core was active,but barely. A few warm areas suggested that at leastsome of its atmospheric seals remained intact.Approaching closer, he could see that three of the darktubes attached to the upper cylinder had come loose atone end and were in danger of being launched away by

    centrifugal force. Whoever lived hereif anyone didthey were not much on maintenance.

    The clack-clack of boots-in-a-hurry echoed throughthe open hatchway at the rear of the flight deck, thensuddenly stopped. Ben activated the canopys mirrorpanel and found his father standing behind the copilots

    chair, jaw hanging slack as he stared at the slowly spin-ning station ahead.

    Remind you of anything? Ben asked.Lukes gaze remained fixed on the space station.

    What do you think? he asked. It could be a minia-ture Centerpoint Station.

    Centerpoint had been an ancient space station locatedin the stable zone between the Corellian worlds ofTalus and Tralus. Its origins remained cloaked in mys-tery, but the station had once been the most powerfulweapon in the galaxy, capable of destroying entire starsystems from hundreds of light-years away. One of thefew positive things to come of the recent civil war, in

    Bens opinion, had been the facilitys destruction. Hewas far from happy to discover another version hiddenhere, deep inside the Maw.

    I was afraid youd say that, Ben said with a sigh.What do we do now? Lob a baradium missile at it?

    Lukes voice grew disapproving. Do we have a bara-

    dium missile?

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    Ben dropped his gaze. Sorry. Uncle Han said it wasalways smart to keep one

    Your uncle isnt a Jedi, Luke interrupted. I wish

    youd remember that.Sure, Ben said. But maybe this one time weshould think about the way he would handle this. Ifthis place was built by the same beings that designedCenterpoint Station, the smartest thing we can do is getrid of it.

    And maybe we willafter we unjam our vector

    plates and replenish our hydraulics. Luke slipped intothe copilots seat behind Ben. In the meantime, try toavoid hitting anything. Ill see if I can find a safe placeto dock this bird.

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