Delusions of Grandeur
Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta
To our nieces and nephews whose pride in us is both flattering and energizing
Trinity Workman
Ashley Woehrle
Michael Woehrle
Shawn O’Donnell
Devin O’Donnell
Sarah Jones
Cary Jones
Daniel Jones
Spencer Jones
Amanda Moesta
Brandon Moesta
Wyatt Moesta
1
A knock at the wooden door startled Jaina Solo out of her reverie. She had to blink a few times to orient herself as she shook off memories of recent events.
Her gaze swept around her stone-walled room, across the sleeping pallet and the small work desk by the window slit. Against one wall, neatly stacked containers of spare cyberfuses, salvaged circuit loops, and miniature gears gave evidence of her love for electronics and tinkering.
When Jaina heard the second knock, she glanced toward the arched doorway. “Oh—come in!” she called, and her twin brother pushed open the newly repaired door.
Jacen’s eyes, the same brandy-brown color as her own, shone with barely contained excitement. “Hey, guess what? My gort egg is finally about to hatch! It’s making weird noises and rocking around. Wanna come watch?”
It took a moment for Jacen’s news to sink in. “Sure,” she said, proud to know that the incubator she had built for Jacen’s gort egg—a gift from their father, Han Solo—had worked so well. “I’ll be right there. I’m just finishing up something. Give me five minutes.”
Jacen gave her a curious look. The room held no obvious projects that could not wait until after the hatching. “Okay, but hurry—that egg could hatch anytime now. I’m going to get Tenel Ka.” He raced out of the room.
Jaina smoothed her straight brown hair back behind her ears and turned to face the tiny holocam that sat in front of her on her desk almost hidden by a mound of spare parts. “Let’s try this one more time, from the top,” she muttered. Then, taking a deep breath, she switched on the holocam.
“Hello, Zekk. Things are pretty quiet here on Yavin 4. I really miss—well, we all miss you. I wish you’d reconsider and come back to the Jedi academy. Uh-oh. That’s no good.” She flicked the tiny holocam off, erased her message, and flicked it on again. She cleared her throat and started over.
“How are you, Zekk? I realize you didn’t stay here for very long, but things at the academy just haven’t been the same since you left. It seems like such a long time since we last saw you.”
Jaina switched off the recorder again. “Oh, great. That was cheery,” she scolded herself. “Guaranteed to send him running to the Outer Rim Territories and beyond.”
She closed her eyes and imagined Zekk was right here in front of her … his emerald eyes alive with intelligence, his almost-black hair tied back at the nape of his neck….
Opening her eyes again, she reset the recorder to the beginning and readjusted her features to look more happy and relaxed. She actually felt calmer then, and switched the holocam back on. One more time. Forcing a twinkle into her eye, she flashed him the same lopsided grin that she and Jacen had inherited from their father.
“Hi, Zekk. Hope you get this hololetter soon. I recorded a few others and gave them to old Peckhum. He said he’d send the messages to you, but he couldn’t guarantee when you would get them.” She cleared her throat and kept talking.
“We’re all busy as ever, still at work rebuilding the temples.” She winced at the memory of the Shadow Academy attack Zekk himself had helped to engineer, but plunged ahead and steered her thoughts toward safer topics. “Seems like each time we get settled in, something comes up and I’m off with Jacen, Tenel Ka, and Lowie on some new adventure. Not as exciting as the life of a bounty hunter trainee, maybe, but it keeps us on our toes.”
She bit her lower lip and thought for a second. “By the way, nothing fresh to report about Bornan Thul’s disappearance yet. In fact, things only seem to be getting worse. We went to a planet called Kuar to look for clues and wound up tangling with a batch of combat arachnids instead. You should’ve seen the battle! Anyway, Thul’s brother Tyko showed up afterward to help us search. That night we were attacked by assassin droids led by IG-88! We fought in the catacombs, but there were so many droids and combat arachnids! IG-88 snatched Tyko Thul right in front of our eyes—and there was nothing we could do to stop it. Now both Raynar’s father and his uncle Tyko are missing.”
Jaina shook her head. “I know you’re looking for Bornan Thul, too. Have you caught any news on your end?” she added hopefully. “Wish we could find something good to tell Raynar when we see him next. Last we heard, he was still in hiding with the Bornaryn fleet—the trading ships his parents own. We tried to send messages, but we can’t tell if word got through.” She sighed. “Course, I have no idea if this letter’ll get through to you, either.
“Anyhow, if you run into the fleet or get any word about Bornan or Tyko Thul, we’d sure like to hear from you.” Jaina stopped, blushed slightly. “Well, we’d like to hear from you anyway, if you get the chance. I’m rambling, so I guess I should sign off now. Peckhum will encrypt this message and send it out to all the bars, cantinas, smuggler’s dens …” She grinned. “You know, all those places where scoundrels and bounty hunters hang out. I’ll send another hololetter when I have time. Until then, may the Force be with you.” She smiled one more time. “Bye, Zekk.”
Jaina stopped recording and nodded. “That ought to do it—not too gushy or emotional.” She really hated having to walk on eggshells when she spoke to an old friend.
Eggshells. Egg!
She had completely forgotten about Jacen’s gort egg hatching! Slipping the hololetter into a pocket of her flight suit, she dashed for Jacen’s room.
Only one room of the Great Temple boasted an entire wall of terrariums, incubators, cages, and aquariums on sturdy stone shelves: the room occupied by Jacen Solo. On most days at the Jedi academy, Jacen spent an hour, or sometimes two, feeding and caring for his various pets, using the Force to send them pleasant thoughts and to sense anything they needed.
Today, however, he was interested in only one creature—one he had never seen before.
“The shell appears … flawless,” Tenel Ka said, holding her hand above the spheroid egg.
Under the light of the incubator, the pearly pink shell gleamed softly. Jacen glanced at the warrior girl who crouched beside him watching the egg. The egg made a sudden rocking movement, but Tenel Ka didn’t flinch.
“Pretty neat, huh?” Jacen said.
“A beautiful color,” she remarked.
“Uh-huh,” Jacen said, though at the moment he was admiring the red-gold of Tenel Ka’s hair, some of which was loose and flowing, the rest caught up in braids that fell forward over the shoulders of her green lizard-hide armor.
“May I touch your egg?” Tenel Ka asked. She nodded toward the object, which had once again begun to rock and emit clicking noises.
“Uh … sure,” Jacen said.
“Did I miss it?” Jaina burst into the room. “Did it hatch yet?” The pearly egg gave a soft thump-thump and rolled up against one wall of the incubator.
“Looks like you’re right on time.” Jacen moved a bit closer to Tenel Ka, ostensibly to give his sister a better view of the incubator’s front panel.
Jaina glanced around the room before plopping herself on the floor beside him. “Where’s Lowie?” she asked.
“He has not yet arrived,” Tenel Ka said.