“I told him about the hatching,” Jacen added. “He said he needed to stretch his legs, but he should be here any minute.” The pearl-pink sphere in the incubator bounced a few times and made a louder ticking noise.
“Come on, little one,” Jacen coaxed, leaning closer to the incubator. “You can do it.”
A moment later, a warbling bellow could be heard just outside the smashed window opening in Jacen’s room. All three young Jedi turned just in time to see Lowie swing through the opening in an uncharacteristic display of swashbuckling bravado.
Part of the window area had been demolished during the Shadow Academy attack, but since there was no major structural damage, Jacen was in no hurry to get it repaired. He liked the fresh air.
Now the lanky, ginger-furred Lowbacca landed neatly on the flagstones, smoothed a large hand over the black streak of fur that ran up over his head above the left eye and down his back, and roared a Wookiee greeting.
Tenel Ka raised an eyebrow and glanced at Lowie. “A fine entrance, friend Lowbacca,” she observed. “I will remember it.”
“Dear me, I do hope we haven’t arrived too late,” Em Teedee said. The little silver translating droid was clipped to his usual place on Lowie’s syren-fiber belt. “I’ve never had the opportunity to witness a gort hatching before.”
As if on cue, the gort egg made a sharp clacking noise. Lowie crossed the room in three long strides and crowded between Jacen and Jaina on the floor.
The gort egg knocked loudly, bounced, and rolled until it rested against the front panel of the incubator.
“Good,” Jacen said softly. “That’s it—you’ve almost got it. A few more times now.”
Click-click. Thunk. Clack.
Jacen touched his fingers to the transparisteel. “There’s a warm, friendly place waiting for you,” he whispered. With one more click and another thunk, a tiny fissure appeared in the surface of the shell.
Lowie gave a thoughtful rumble. Jaina drew in a sharp breath and bit her lower lip. Tenel Ka reached out and placed her hand just next to Jacen’s on the clear front panel, her fingers barely touching his. Jacen felt soothing, welcoming thoughts join his own and flow toward the egg.
The egg tapped and bounced. Another crack appeared.
A loud noise at the doorway interrupted them as one of the New Republic soldiers stationed on the jungle moon during the reconstruction activities stuck his helmeted head into the room. He blinked, looking somewhat confused. “Excuse me, I was trying to find a refresher unit.” The soldier made a hasty retreat and continued urgently down the hall.
The young Jedi Knights turned their attention back to the hatching egg.
“Oh, I can scarcely bear the suspense!” Em Teedee said in a hushed voice. “Master Lowbacca, if I might impose on you for just a moment? I should like to get a closer look.”
Lowie unclipped the little droid from his belt and held him up to the incubator for an unobstructed view. The gort egg bounced and rocked, bumping itself repeatedly against the clear front panel.
“Come on, you can do it,” Jacen whispered.
Crack. A piece of shell, perfectly triangular in shape, fell away from the side of the egg. Then the egg jumped and rolled until the triangular opening was on top. Suddenly a downy ball of blue fluff poked through the hole. The fluff parted, like two halves of a curtain pulling aside, to reveal an inquisitive sapphire-blue eye.
“Hey! Hello there,” Jacen said gently.
The sapphire eye went wide, then nictated a few times, as if it could not believe what it saw. It swiveled on its down-covered eyestalk for a complete view of its surroundings. Another ball of fluff appeared through the hole in the egg, and a second sapphire-blue eye blinked furiously at them. The two fluffy eye-balls bobbed up and down on their stalks, looking first at each other, then around the incubator. When the two eye-balls were joined by a third puff of downy blue that blinked sleepily at them, Jaina giggled.
“Oh my!” Em Teedee said. “How many ocular appendages does this creature possess?”
Jacen shrugged. “Just three … I think.” Tenel Ka’s hand dropped away from the incubator, and she looked at Jacen in surprise.
The eye-balls bobbed wildly. A hollow tapping sound came from inside the remaining eggshell. Finally the shell broke apart into a dozen pieces, revealing the tiny gort hatchling.
Blue fluff clothed every square centimeter of the creature, except for the wide, flat beak set a third of the way down its little body. The rounded body, as large as Jacen’s fist, perched atop a pair of short legs, supported by broad, flat feet. The three toes were splayed for balance, and the gort’s thin prehensile tail curled into the air behind it. The tip of the tail reached forward to scratch one of the gort’s eyestalks, as if it were confused.
“Hello, little girl,” Jacen said. He turned to the others. “Don’t ask me how I know it’s a girl. I just do.”
Lowie gave an urf of laughter, and tapped one finger against the incubator’s front panel. All three of the gort’s eyestalks retracted into its body, and the eyes nictated shut, so that the creature looked like a lump of blue down.
“What is her name?” Tenel Ka asked.
All three eyestalks extended again and the sapphire eyes blinked open.
“She blinks a lot,” Jacen said. “I think I’ll call her Nicta.”
Jacen slid open the feeding chute in the incubator; several insects and grubs he had collected cascaded into the feeding dish. “There you go, Nicta. Morning meal.”
With a warbling sound, Artoo-Detoo entered Jacen’s student quarters. “Artoo, what brings you here?” Jaina said.
The silver, blue, and white barrel-shaped droid beeped and twittered a rather long explanation.
“Uh, Em Teedee?” Jacen said, still preoccupied with his new pet. “Would you mind translating on this one?”
“Why, certainly, Master Jacen. How could I mind? After all, translating has always been my primary function, though it’s seldom used these days. I am fluent in over six forms of communication. Why, in my prime, I—”
“Em Teedee,” Jaina cut in.
“Yes, Mistress Jaina?”
“The translation please?”
“Oh, yes. My associate, Artoo-Detoo, was sent by Master Luke to request that you report to the landing field to assist Master Peckhum in unloading supplies for the Jedi academy and for the New Republic defensive forces. He is due to arrive in just over four standard minutes.”
“Old Peckhum’s coming here?” Jaina asked.
“Hey, that’s great,” Jacen said. Lowie jumped to his feet.
“Perhaps Peckhum will bring news of Zekk,” Tenel Ka said.
Jaina blushed slightly and looked away, and Jacen knew the same thought had occurred to her. “Well, what are we waiting for?” she asked.
Jacen turned back to the incubator. He picked up the perfect, triangular shard of eggshell, put it in his pocket, and crooned to the little hatchling. “Don’t worry, Nicta. We won’t be away long.” Then he and his companions raced together out to the landing field.
Though they’d seen it twice before, Jacen found it hard to get used to Peckhum’s new ship, the Thunderbolt. It still seemed strange to see the old spacer flying the modern midsized cargo hauler. The gleaming entry ramp extended, and several more New Republic soldiers accompanied Peckhum down to the ground.
“Hope you don’t mind some company,” Peckhum said as the guards headed for their briefing rooms. “Had to drop off supplies with the ships up in orbit, and these five needed shore leave somethin’ fierce. I also brought someone else with me. Chief of State Organa Solo wanted to make sure he got here safely.”
Jaina’s eyes lit up. “Zekk?”
Peckhum sighed. “Naw—wish it were. I have been gettin’ messages from Zekk fairly regular, though. Doesn’t say much, ’cept that he’s learnin’ a lot about bounty huntin’.”