Young Jedi Knights_ Trouble On Cloud City Part 8

Tenel Ka had only one hand, and that was grasped tightly in Lowbacca's.

Thinking fast, she swung her body, arched her back, and reached out with her legs.

Jacen managed to grab her calf but then slid down, clutching at her lizard-hide boot for just a moment. His sweat-slick fingers gripped her ankle; then slipped....

"Jacen!" Tenel Ka cried.

Jacen looked up at her for one last fleeting instant as she tried to reach out to him. Lowie yowled in despair.

Jacen's fingers slid from Tenel Ka's boot, and he dropped....

Dropped far away from Cloud City... plummeting into the bottomless sea of sky, where he vanished like a speck of dust.

Surrounded by the bayou sounds of hoots and hums and squawks that seeped from the dense marsh through the ragged walls of the shack, Jaina sat back to listen to the band's tale.

The fame of Figrin D'an and his crew had risen and fallen over the years, and "Fiery Figrin" himself never understood what they were doing right or wrong. All through old Imperial days, the time of Rebellion, and then the formation of the New Republic, the Modal Nodes had played their own music, sometimes to great fanfare, sometimes to few-if any-appreciative ears.

But they played and they traveled. That's what the Bith &d. They were members in good standing of the Intergalactic Musicians' Guild and generally made a good living, although Figrin had a long-standing tradition of losing their earnings at the sabace table. He never could resist a good high-stakes game, and more than once had lost his own instruments and those of his fellow band members, only to win them back again in his next all-too-brief streak of luck.

For a time they had been Jabba the Hutt's favorite band. Then they had reluctantly agreed to play at the disastrous wedding of the Lady Valarian in Mos Eisley, at which point they had been stuck performing as a mere bar band in the cantina, lucky to emerge with their lives.

Since then, they had moved on from planet to planet, playing in any paying venue, from prestigious resorts to drained-dry fanning communities. They had gone to Borgo Prime, where they'd been the hit of Shanko's Hive for five months running before a bad gambling debt had forced Figrin and his band members to leave discreetly in the night on the first cargo ship they could stow away on.

They'd also done a stint in the floating casinos on Mon Calamari, but the gambling tables proved too tempting for Figrin, and his own musicians had finally dragged him away and taken a booking on Cloud City. Lando's business partner, Cojahn, had promised them that their new gig to publicize SkyCenter Galleria would be a renaissance for them, a real comeback tour.

Now, though, that had fallen to pieces as well.

"But that doesn't explain it, Figrin," Lando said. "Cojahn was my friend.

You've got to tell me what really went down."

Behind him, the band members continued their accompaniment on the Fizzz, the fanfar, and the ommni box. The eerie music added depth to the story, making Figrin's words richer, more ominous.

"It's all about Black Sun," Figrin said. "They've gone underground for many years, but they've got a cover story now. Black Sun lieutenants act respectable, but when n.o.body's looking, they set up their old criminal connections, just like Prince Xizor used to do, and Durga the Hutt, and all the other deposed kingpins. Black Sun has its clutches on weapons runners, illegal spice trade, and now the gambling and entertainment industries."

Figrin swiped a hand across his high, smooth cranium, knocking away tiny droplets of sweat that had collected there. "That's why they were trying to get their toehold on Cloud City-especially your new establishment, Lando. Black Sun wanted a cut of SkyCenter Galleria....

In fact, they wanted to run the place. In absentia, of course."

Lando just shook his head. "Cojahn would never have allowed that to happen to our entertainment center-which is a perfectly legitimate place, I might add. A real family amus.e.m.e.nt center with no shady dealings whatsoever, despite what you may have heard about me in the past."

"Believe me, Lando, compared to Black Sun, you're just an Ewok that got happy on juri juice."

"Thanks... I think," Lando said.

"But you're right," Figrin said. "Cojahn wasn't easily pushed around."

The musicians kept playing from the corners of the hut as if they had practiced this number over and over again and knew exactly what to do.

Jaina wondered if they had considered writing a song about their ordeal on Bespin. Maybe it would even be a hit.

Zekk nodded and rested his chin in his hands. "If you're running a business like Cojahn was, you'd have to be ready to stand up to hoodlums and all sorts of people trying to push you around."

"Yeah, you get that a lot," Lando said. "But most of them are cowards anyway."

"Cojahn did his best, man, but Black Sun infiltrators popped up everywhere. You never knew who they were, or when they might come after you in a dark corridor down in Port Town. Got so you had to have a Wing Guard escort to take you to the gambling tables and back again.

Those bullies could stick your head in a carbon-freezing tube, or drop you out an exhaust shaft. They meant business."

Lando nodded grimly. "But Cojahn didn't give in to them?"

"He should have," Figrin said. "He reported Black Sun's threats to a couple high-level Exex on Cloud City, but they lost the complaint or it was misfiled. He tried again, but nothing was ever done. Finally, Cojahn fired his Ugnaught crew boss when he figured out the guy was in thick with Black Sun."

Figrin shook his domed head. "Not long after that, Cojahn took his little dive off a high balcony. Man, that guy's probably still falling."

One of the musicians made a high, thin, squawking note on his instrument.

"You know, there's no end to the clouds on Bespin."

"So why'd you run, Figrin?" Lando asked. "Were they after you, too?"

"Black Sun's trying to get its hands into the Intergalactic Musicians'

Guild. They wanted us to pay triple membership dues just so they could take their cut-and man, Cojahn hadn't paid us much. We'd only done a few gigs for him. I mean, SkyCenter Galleria isn't even open yet! We got a few tips when we played the bars in the Yerith Bespin, but not enough for that kind of extortion." He shook his huge smooth head. "I hate gangsters that don't have budget payment plans!"

He continued. "Once Cojahn died, we knew Black Sun would tighten its hold on us, apply more pressure. One time they put stinger eels inside the mouthpieces of all our instruments."

Zekk made a grimace of distaste.

"Oh, we caught the critters soon enough. Fed 'em to one of the bar's customers, and even got a big tip-but we didn't dare stick around Cloud City. Too dangerous there."

"Yeah," Zekk said, rolling his eyes. "You needed to come back to a nice safe, pleasant place like this war-ravaged wasteland of Clak'dor "Hey, home is home," Figrin said with a shrug.

Jaina felt sickened. "So Cojahn stood up for his morals and ethics... and paid for it with his life."

"That about sums it up, young lady," Figrin agreed.

"At least now we know what happened," Zekk said. Sweat stained his clothing beneath the transparalon suit.

Lando stared grimly across the dim hut, gazing through the proppedopen window. "Yeah, but we don't know who killed him or who ordered his death." He swallowed hard. "And believe me, someone's going to pay for my friend's death. Someone in Black Sun will have to answer for it."

"Guess it's time to get back to Cloud City, then," Jaina said.

Perspiration trickled down her neck and her back.

The band members stood up, bustled around the hut, and propped the rest of the windows, letting a heavy sluggish breeze drift in. The hazy light on Clak'dor VII grew richer in color as the sun set toward the swamp trees in the west. Outside they could hear the burning sounds of millions of insects stirring in the twilight.

"At least sit outside with us for a few minutes before you go," Figrin said. "This is our nightly jam session. It'd be, nice to have people listening for a change."

The band members dropped through trapdoors to emerge outside the stilted hut. They tuned up on ramshackle stoops, ladders, and balconies, tossing off riffs and s.n.a.t.c.hes of melody.

Outside, sitting on a rock, a violet puffer turtle swelled its bladders, straining the limits of its sh.e.l.l's flexibility, and then exhaled on a low ba.s.soon note. Heavy beetles crawled up trees and clicked their rear legs together in a rattling rhythm.

"It's the music of the swamp," Figrin said. "The symphony of Clak'dor VII. The Bith evolved with music like this! Since my people hide under their domes all the time, they don't get to hear the natural music. Come on, join in." He picked up his battered old long-reed jazz, thrust it into his mouth folds, and began to play.

The other band members added their own inspirations and embellishments, joining in with the mood synthesizer and humming clak beepbox. As they slid into tune with the natural sounds and music, a hoot-bat flapped overhead, emitting short blasts of sound that the musicians incorporated as a counterpoint to their piece.

Jaina listened, enjoying the exotic tune. She had never heard music like this in her life, and she knew it was an experience she wouldn't forget.

She winked at Zekk. "This is almost better than dry clothes," she said.

Zekk flashed a grin back at her. "Not quite," he said. "But it's interesting."

When it was finally time to go, Lando and the two young Jedi took their leave of the forlorn Biths sitting in their run-down huts, hiding out in the middle of the swamp.

"You'll have an audience soon enough, Figrin," Lando said softly.

"Once we take care of Black Sun, you can come back and play to your heart's content. I'll even double your wages for the first week."

Figrin raised a big-knuckled hand. "Just make sure you have an open sabace table for me, Calrissian." The band kept playing as their unexpected visitors turned to leave.

"What, you want to lose all your wages again?" Lando said over his shoulder.

"I always win 'em back," Figrin answered, waving goodbye.

The band's melody turned sour and skeptical at these words, and Jaina sensed that Figrin's companions didn't have much confidence in their leader's gambling prowess.

Tenel Ka's normally alert mind went numb with shock as Jacen plummeted out of reach. She hung precariously, still dangling in the Wooklee's strong grasp. She could have fallen at any instant. But for a full hundred heartbeats she could only stare down into the sea of clouds that had swallowed her friend Jacen.

Jacen...

At his side she had fought Dark Jedi, vicious beasts, bounty hunters, a.s.sa.s.sins, and misguided patriots. But never, even in her wildest nightmares, had she imagined that he could be taken from her like this-lost in an instant to gravity and some nebulous foe against whom she'd never even had the opportunity to fight.

The sharp pain in her arm did not come close to matching the wrenching pain in her heart, but it did bring her back to reality. Lowie groaned in weariness and despair. Tenel Ka's booted feet flailed in the air.

The only thing that kept her from sharing Jacen's fate was Lowbacca's strong grip on her one good arm.

But that couldn't last forever...

????? or a split second, she considered letting go, plunging after Jacen into the clouds. At least that would save Lowbacca, and she wouldn't have to live with the guilt of knowing this had all indirectly been her fault.

A long time ago, if she hadn't been trying so hard to impress Jacen when they'd first built their lightsabers, her pride would not have led her to fight him with a substandard weapon... would not have led to the accident in which her arm had been lost-an arm that would have been there to save Jacen from his fall, had it not been for her own foolishness.

She should have been there to catch him. Tenel Ka had failed Jacen.

Why had she simply not told him how much his friendship meant to her?

Tenel Ka's sweaty hand slipped in Lowie's grasp. With a harsh bark of warning, Lowbacca extended his razor-sharp Wookiee claws and dug them deep into her arm. He would not let her fall.

She winced, distracted from her torturous thoughts, and welcomed the pain that brought her mind back to sharp reality. The warrior girl looked up into Lowie's golden eyes and saw there a reflection of her own anguish...

and something more: determination.

Deten,nination to stay alive. Determination not to lose another friend.

Determination to warn Jaina, Zekk, and Lando that their lives were in danger too. Determination to find whoever had done this and bring them to justice.

Blood trickled from the deep wounds where Lowie's talons dug fiercely into her skin. Through the Force she felt his resolve flow into her, like the warm blood that poured down her arm. The wind made her red-gold braids whip wildly around her and caught at the droplets of blood, spattering them across her face.

The braids of a warrior. The blood of a princess.

Tenel Ka gritted her teeth. She would not fall, and she would not allow Jacen's murderers to go free. Her eyes still locked with Lowbacca's, she used the Force to steady herself. "I'm ready."

The Wookiee, who still had one arm wrapped around the st.u.r.dy antenna that protruded from the bottom of the city's structure, pulled himself upward with that arm until he was able to wrap his strong legs around a crossbar. With both hands freed, he pulled her up by one arm and grasped her around the waist with the other. Then, shaking from the strain, he curled upward toward the antenna, as if sitting up and lifting weights simultaneously, until Tenel Ka could grasp the center bar of the antenna herself.

When he withdrew his claws from her arm the gush of blood made the antenna slippery and harder to hold on to, though Tenel Ka hardly noticed. She quickly hooked a leg over the crossbar and helped Lowbacca pull himself upright. For several long moments they clung to the antenna, shuddering from their efforts.

Finally Tenel Ka drew a deep breath. "Thank you, Lowbacca, my friend.

Let us continue."

Lowie roared and pointed up toward the chute through which they had fallen. Tenel Ka looked and saw with despair that the hatch had closed behind them! "You are correct, my friend. We seem to be stranded."

A split second later the hatch mysteriously slid open of its own accord.

Lowie gave a triumphant bellow. They would still need to find a way to climb inside the sheer tube, but the first hurdle had been overcome. As the two young Jedi struggled to a standing position on the antenna crossbar, a familiar silver ovoid hovered down through the open disposal chute.

"Oh, thank the Maker! Master Lowbacca, Mistress Tenel Ka!

You're alive! Do make haste-I'm not certain how long I can keep this access hatch open."

Tenel Ka fumbled with the pouch clipped at her waist and removed her grappling hook and fibercord.

"Oh, excellent idea!" Em Teedee said. "There is a ledge exactly three point seven meters above you where an air vent feeds into this disposal tube." Tenel Ka felt a strange light-headed sensation as she attempted to swing the grappling hook for her throw. Her fingers were b.l.o.o.d.y and the hook slipped from her grasp as she made the toss.

Lowbacca's hand shot out and s.n.a.t.c.hed the cord before the hook could fall. Tenel Ka saw this as if from a great distance. The Wookiee then secured one arm around her waist and the antenna while he used his other hand to draw in the grappling hook, swing, and make the throw.

The hook caught and held firm.

"Excellent shot, Master Lowbacca!" Em Teedee said. "I say, wherever could Master Jacen be?"

An angry Wookiee bellow exploded beside Tenel Ka's ear, but it didn't matter. A curtain of soft darkness descended upon her mind and she remembered nothing more.

Anja had everything back under control. She had reminded herself of her priorities and her goals, of who she was and who her enemies were.

She felt refreshed, invigorated, ready to take on anyone or anything.

She was once again convinced that she had not befriended Jacen, Jaina, and their a.s.sociates. She was merely using them to get to Han Solo.