Star Wars: New Jedi Order Stories: The Apprentice Page 2

  Finally the task was done. Jaina sat back on her heels and tucked a stray wisp of brown hair behind one ear. “I say we transport him like this. Put him on a repulsor sled.”

  Kyp shook his head. “Three of us walking away from the ship wouldn’t draw much notice. Two walking and one floating-- that’s likely to raise some questions. Plus, the ventilation tunnels are light and heat sensitive. The sled doesn’t generate much heat, but the control lights might be enough to tip off the sensors.”

  “I could reset the controls.”

  “Sure, but that would take time. I doubt we’ve got much to spare.”

  Jaina conceded with a nod. She watched intently as Kyp placed a hand on the man’s temples. She felt the Jedi Master reach out into the prisoner’s mind, felt him use the Force to peel back the shields holding him in torpor.

  The big man came awake suddenly, thrashing and sputtering like a man drowning in a sea of nightmares. His eyes focused on Jaina, and he abruptly fell still and silent. Memory flickered in them, and then a searing flash of panic-- hers had been the last face he’d seen before an invisible fist seized his mind and crushed it into darkness and silence.

  The Hapan hauled himself to a sitting position and scuttled away, crab-walking backward as he put as much distance between himself and the young Jedi as possible. “Why?” he demanded in a dry, raspy tone.

  Jaina knew precisely what he meant. Why had his escape from the prisons of Hapes been arranged? Why were his two compatriots allowed to continue the escape, while he was kept behind? Why had he been mind-controlled and stashed in the hold of some ship?

  She sent him a reassuring smile. “Princess Tenel Ka has issued a conditional pardon. She understands the Yuuzhan Vong implant might have prompted you to attack her. We’ve brought you to Gallinore to have it removed. Afterward, if you’ll recant your desertion, and if a Jedi inquiry shows that you’re free of any further treasonous intent, your pardon will take full effect.”

  “Why?” he repeated in a stronger tone.

  “We’re trying to win back deserters, especially those who might possess valuable information about the Yuuzhan Vong. Hapes needs all the good pilots it can get.”

  Wary blue eyes searched her face as the man weighed her claim. “And the other two men? The pirates who escaped with me?”

  “They’ll be picked up before they leave Hapes’s atmosphere. Since we’re circumventing Hapan law, we’ve got to keep this quiet until we know for sure that the effort is worthwhile. Your friends’ get-away ships will be reported as destroyed. That way, if they don’t rehabilitate, they’ll already be listed as dead.”

  Jaina lifted one eyebrow, underscoring the choices before him. She deliberately made her story grim enough to be plausible and added a powerful nudge of Jedi persuasion. After a moment the man accepted his “reprieve” with a nod. The two Jedi helped him to his feet and flanked him as they headed toward the pilot refresher facility.

  “We’re going in through the ventilation tunnels,” Jaina explained as they slipped into a dimly lit side corridor.

  They stopped before a large, circular hatch. Kyp caught her wrist as she reached for the controls. “Wait. The light in this hall could trigger an alarm.”

  He drew his lightsaber and swept it in a shining arc toward the ceiling lights. They flared sharply and then blinked out, leaving the hall in darkness.

  Immediately a profound chill swept through Jaina. She reached out for their prisoner with a hand that suddenly was heavy and numb. Her fingers closed around the Hapan’s wrist. His skin felt cold to the touch.

  “What is this?” he demanded thickly. “What’s happening?”

  “I have to lower our body temperature to match the air temperature in the tunnels,” Kyp responded. “It might not be comfortable, but it’s necessary. Move slowly, keep alert. Remember, if we’re caught, the Gallinore officials will send you right back to that Hapan prison.”

  “I copy,” the man mumbled.

  Jaina eased the door open and hauled herself into the tunnel. The rounded passage was just big enough to crawl through, and it sloped downward. As Jaina pulled herself along, she quickly became grateful for the decline. The tunnels were cold, and her chilled limbs felt sluggish and unresponsive.

  Finally the tunnel leveled out, and an almost imperceptible bluish glow dawned at the end. Jaina picked up her pace. The tunnel opened into a rounded corridor big enough to allow them to walk upright. She rolled out, reveling in the soft light. The tunnel was still painfully cold, but after the utter darkness of the side tunnels, the faint diffused light felt oddly reassuring. She stepped aside to allow the Hapan to emerge. The big man crawled out and stretched, then rolled his shoulders to loosen cramped muscles.

  He fell into step with the two Jedi, walking nearly as quietly as his much-smaller captors. Jaina reached out with the Force, trying to measure his mood and intentions. She picked up a high level of anxiety, but under the circumstances that seemed reasonable.

  They moved silently through a maze of tunnels, counting off sidetunnels and drainage shoots, following the pattern that Kyp had committed to memory. Finally the Jedi Master pointed to a hatch on the far wall. “That’s it,” he said softly.

  Without warning, the Hapan dropped to the floor and executed a quick leg sweep. His attack was unbelievably quick-- would have been even if he hadn’t been chilled to near-immobility. Kyp went down, and his tumble gave Jaina time to stumble back a couple of paces. The prisoner completed the spin and came up in one fluid movement.

  He pivoted to one side, brought his knee up and snapped off a quick kick. Instantly Jaina fell back into lessons learned during her brief apprenticeship with Mara Jade. Recognizing the feint, she ducked under the first high kick. She pivoted hard toward the kickboxer, timing her momentum to his second kick and slamming her stiffened forearm against the sensitive tendon just below the bunched muscle of his calf.

  The jolt of impact was not nearly as hard as she’d expected. Too late, Jaina recognized the double feint. The Hapan’s third, powerful kick caught her off balance and sent her flying.

  Jaina hit the rounded wall and rolled down. She came up on one knee, too cold and too angry to feel the pain that would certainly come later. The kickboxer advanced, sweeping one stiffened leg up high for a powerful downward chop.

  Instinctively Jaina threw out one hand toward her attacker. Dark lightning flared from her fingertips. Jagged, eerily dancing tendrils caught the Hapan, lifted him, and then hurled him across the tunnel.

  Once before Jaina had unleashed Force lightning. This time it came more easily-- but once summoned, it was harder to dispel. Streaks of dark energy edged with searing blue-violet shadows poured from her, pinning the writhing, struggling man against the tunnel wall.

  She was dimly aware of another power falling like a shadow on her dark and brilliant rage. The lighting ended with an abrupt, audible sizzle as Kyp seized her wrist. He spun her around to face him.

  For a moment she simply stared at the Jedi Master, stunned at her own actions and not at all sure whether they would meet with condemnation or approval.

  Kyp broke off first. She tracked his gaze up at the ceiling, and noticed the faint hiss coming from dozens of small round openings. “The flash set off the sensors,” he said curtly. “Let’s get him out.”

  They hauled the dazed Hapan to his feet and started toward the hatch. A wall of durasteel suddenly slammed down into their path, sealing off the tunnel. Jaina spun in time to see a similar wall fall behind them. The hiss rose in volume, and suddenly a stream of cold, acrid-smelling fluid poured from the valves.

  A swift flood of coolant poured into the locked-off tunnel, knocking Jaina’s feet from under her and sending her spinning down into the churning fluid. She went under briefly and came up spitting out a mouthful of the bitter stuff.

  Something seized her foot and yanked her under again. Jaina flailed about until her hand gazed some metallic hold on the rounded wall. She seized it and struggled
to pull away from her attacker. She hauled herself upward, found another handhold. Up she went, rising toward the ceiling by slow, painful centimeters. The coolant numbed her, and her lungs ached and burned. Her struggle ceased abruptly, and she shot upward. Her head broke the surface, and for a few moments all she could do was gasp in air and cling to her cold metal perch.

  Jaina looked around for Kyp. He’d found a similar handhold. To her surprise, his free arm was looped under the Hapan’s chin, keeping him afloat in a rescuer’s hold. She’d assumed that the big man had been trying to pull her under, but realized at a glance that he was in condition to continue his attack.

  The coolant level continued its swift rise, and the powerful spray coming from above made breathing difficult and speech impossible. Jaina slanted a glance toward the ceiling. The fluid would soon reach the top. If they didn’t find a way out soon, they’d drown.

  Kyp caught her eye and looked pointedly toward her left-- toward the unseen force that had tried to pull her under. Jaina noted the vortex rising to the surface, spreading toward them. A drainage tunnel, most likely.

  The Jedi Master let go, deliberately releasing himself and his charge into the powerful spiral. Jaina took a long, deep breath and followed.

  Down she fell, whirling through the cold and darkness. Her tumbling descent slowed as the wall narrowed, and then diffused light rushed toward her through the tumbling water. Silhouetted against it were the dark, tumbling shapes of Kyp and their prisoner. Then, suddenly, both men stopped.

  Jaina continued to hurtle forward. She made out the regular shape of a metal grate, and then a heartbeat later she slammed headlong into it.

  Coolant continued to surge through the narrow tunnel, pinning her to the grate like a mynock stuck to an accelerating starfighter. She struggled to free herself, but the force of the rushing fluid was just too great.

  She felt Kyp’s touch through the Force, and then she was sliding to one side of the grate, moved by a psychic shove more powerful than the swift-flowing stream. The flare of Kyp’s lightsaber darted toward the hatch, and the lock gave way.

  The three of them tumbled out, falling into a wide, shallow tank. Jaina struggled to the side and hauled herself over. She tumbled to the floor-- and came to a stop just short of several pairs of booted feet.

  Strong hands seized her and dragged her upright. Inner warmth flooded through Jaina in a sudden wash of power, and her chilled limbs awoke to a thousand sharp prickles of pain. She clung to the guard’s wrists, certain that she’d fall if he let her go. Though every instinct prompted her to fight, Jaina focused on the struggle within. She was perilously close to losing consciousness. If she did, then all would be lost.

  A bright flare of light filled the room, a burst of power that shattered Jaina’s faltering concentration. She slid to the floor, no longer supported by the guard, and let the darkness claim her.

  ***

  The dull humming in Jaina’s ears rose swiftly to a shrill wail and then dissipated in a sharp, sudden burst. She sat up abruptly, feeling dazed and disoriented. After a moment, she remembered her mission, and the bruising tumble that had brought them this far.

  She looked around. The Hapan had recovered consciousness. He leaned heavily against the now-empty coolant tank, eyeing her with undisguised horror. Jaina’s gaze quickly slid away from the accusing stare. Four guards lay sprawled across the floor. Kyp Durron knelt by one of them, rhythmically pumping the man’s chest with both hands. The guard’s body suddenly jerked, and the bluish color began to fade from his face.

  The Jedi Master rose to his feet and extended a hand to Jaina. She took it and let him pull her up. “Wow,” she said, gazing at the Force-blasted guards. “Who did this, you or me?”

  “We’ve got to keep moving,” Kyp said, ignoring her question. “The longer this takes, the slimmer our chances of walking out of here.”

  Jaina nodded. “Before we go, I need you to show me how to wipe away memories. They can’t remember they saw us here.”

  When he did not respond, she continued her argument. “The scientist is a political prisoner. Secrecy is vital, not only so we can get our prisoner where he needs to go, but also to stave off more reactionary response to the Jedi.”

  Kyp held his silence for a few moments. “No.”

  “No?” she repeated, incredulous. “You said yourself that no one can know about this.”

  “And I hold to that. But I’ll do it myself.”

  She lifted one brow in challenge. “What’s the matter? Not the sort of lessons you had in mind?”

  “An apprentice should learn from a Master, not repeat his mistakes.”

  “This is no different from the little Jedi mind tricks that every Jedi uses without a twinge of guilt,” she argued. “You’re just better at it than most. If I’d wanted to become a singer of ballads, I’d be traveling with Tionne. You want to win the war against the Yuuzhan Vong. That’s why we’re here. Show me.”

  The Jedi Master let out a profound sigh. He grimaced as if steeling himself for an unpleasant task, then dropped to one knee. “Watch, feel and follow,” he instructed, and then reached out to one of the prisoners.

  Jaina felt the older Jedi’s power reach into the man’s mind. Kyp formed the image of a morning-misted sun, barely visible above the forest horizons of Gallinore-- about the time, Jaina recalled, that they had landed. With smooth, cool strokes, Kyp swept away the memory from that moment to this. He eased away, like a thief creeping from a plundered home.

  Slowly Kyp broke the contact with the fallen guard and lifted his eyes to hers. His face was still pale from the chilling tumble, and the deep shadows beneath his eyes made them look vividly green. The power in them, though fading, was both eerie and compelling. “Now you.”

  Jaina nodded and reached out to another guard. But instead of envisioning the morning sun, she focused upon an image of a chronometer. Slowly she forced it into backward motion, stripping away moments from a man’s life.

  When the task was done, she looked to the Jedi Master. He studied her for a moment, his expression unreadable. “You have a knack for this,” he said at last. “Good control. Very precise. You take that one, I’ll do the other. Let’s get this over with.”

  In moments they were back on their way to Sinsor Khal’s lab. Jaina placed her hand on the palm reader, and the door slid open. A small, thin man glanced up from his work. At first glance there was nothing particularly unusual about him. His sandy hair was neatly groomed, and his beard short and trimmed. He wore a red lab coat marked with a few dark spots.

  “Professor Khal?” Jaina inquired.

  “I am he. And you’d be Ta’a Chume’s young protege,” he said easily. “Welcome.”

  He came forward, one hand extended in greeting. At close range she noted the faint, coppery scent emanated from the red garments, and realized that the color was chosen for practicality, or perhaps camouflage. This was a man who dealt in blood, and his red lab coat served the same purpose in this venue that the green flight suits did above.

  Jaina took Sinsor Khal’s hand, noting as she did that the scientist was not much taller than she. She could look him directly in the face without tipping back her head-- an unusual experience for the small young woman.

  The scientist did not return her scrutiny. In fact, his eyes never settled on her or the two men behind her. Obviously he was aware of them, but he seemed strangely detached. Most people would have commented on their wet clothes, their disheveled appearance. Curious, Jaina reached out through the Force. There was little to read. Sinsor Khal was strangely closed to her. The only perception she could pick up was a neutral curiosity, devoid of almost any emotional flavoring and far different from any human response she’d encountered before. They were not persons but specimens, perhaps?

  She quickly withdrew her hand and gestured toward the tall Hapan. “This man has the implant.”

  “Just put him over there,” he said, gesturing.

  “There” was a long ta
ble, bordered with a small gutter and slanted downward slightly toward a pair of drains.

  Kyp turned a dubious stare toward Jaina. “It’ll be fine,” she asserted.

  The prisoner didn’t share her optimism. The struggle to get him onto the table ended abruptly when Sinsor Khal placed a small blaster-shaped weapon against the man’s shoulder and pressed the trigger. The Hapan slumped over the table.

  “Now then,” the scientist announced. “All set for a quick vivisection and a general tune-up. A figure of speech,” he added cheerfully, as if he perceived the stormcloud frown gathering on Kyp’s face.

  Jaina and Kyp worked together to shift the big man onto the table. As she straightened, hands to the small of her aching back, Jaina felt a flash of mental power, a force of mind weirdly similar to that of a Jedi. She whirled toward it and stared directly into Sinsor Khal’s face. The scientist was looking at her, really looking, with an intensity that suggested he saw things most people could never fathom.

  “I know you,” he observed.

  Jaina shook her head. “From what Ta’a Chume said, you were already a guest of Gallinore’s government when I was learning to walk. I’ve never been to Gallinore before.”

  An odd smile slipped onto Sinsor Khal’s face. He held his hand out, palm up. A small, sharp tool rose from the tray and settled down into his grasp with practiced ease. Jaina’s jaw fell, but the scientist hardly seemed to notice his own feat.

  “I didn’t say we’d met,” the failed Jedi specified. “I said I know you.”

  Kyp started forward. Jaina placed one hand on his arm. “We’ve got to get back,” she said softly. “We still have some work to do to make sure there’s no record of our passing.”

  After a moment, Kyp nodded agreement. They left their prisoner in Sinsor Khal’s dubious care and retraced their steps through the corridors, seeking out all those they’d encountered. The older Jedi insisted on doing most of the work. Jaina was content to let him do as he willed. She’d stretched her Force powers to new levels today, and the scientist’s words echoed through her thoughts like mocking laughter. She could not ignore them, could not deny them-- not considering the task still before her.